Natural hazards · Dexter

Dexter, NM natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Dexter comes from drought, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2024. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Dexter?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Dexter to be higher than in 76% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought53%Inland flooding29%Strong wind7%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Dexter faces

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

Drought

53% of expected damage

Recorded about 109 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamis

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 Dexter flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Dexter, from FEMA’s records.

2paid claims since 2024

$208Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20242026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Chaves County.

Disasters that hit Dexter

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DexterDeclared for Chaves County only

2024

Severe Storm and Flooding

355 households applied for aid $4.4M aid approved $296K to the Town of Dexter for repairs

Chaves County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and hurricanes.

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