Natural hazards · El Rito

El Rito, NM natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in El Rito 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 El Rito?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in El Rito to be higher than in 94% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding78%Wildfire13%Everything else9%

By hazard

What El Rito 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 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

13% 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 El Rito flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. El Rito 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 El Rito

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in El Rito itself: aid to households, or repair grants to El Rito.

Brought FEMA money into El RitoDeclared for Rio Arriba County only

2024

South Fork Fire, Salt Fire, and Flooding

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