Natural hazards · Chama

Chama, NM natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chama comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Chama?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chama to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding80%Wildfire12%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Chama faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

80% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Chama flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Chama.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Chama isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Rio Arriba County.

Disasters that hit Chama

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Chama itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Village of Chama.

Brought FEMA money into ChamaDeclared for Rio Arriba County only

2024

South Fork Fire, Salt Fire, and Flooding

2 households applied for aid

Rio Arriba County has had 13 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often fires and severe storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Chama is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Chama’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Chama. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.