Natural hazards · Chimayo

Chimayo, NM natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Chimayo comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Chimayo?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Chimayo to be higher than in 85% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding78%Wildfire14%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Chimayo faces

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

Inland flooding

78% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Wildfire

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% 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 Chimayo flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Santa Fe County.

Disasters that hit Chimayo

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Santa Fe County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Chimayo itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into ChimayoDeclared for Santa Fe County only

Santa Fe County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and fires.

Around Chimayo

Chimayo and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Chimayomostly inland floodingVery high

Rio Chiquitomostly inland floodingVery high

La Pueblamostly inland floodingVery high

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. Chimayo 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 Chimayo’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Chimayo. 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.