Natural hazards · Gallup

Gallup, NM natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Gallup comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 6 claims here since 1988. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Gallup?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Gallup to be higher than in 22% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding79%Cold waves11%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Gallup faces

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

Inland flooding

79% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Gallup flood?

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

6paid claims since 1988

$31Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19882026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: McKinley County.

Disasters that hit Gallup

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into GallupDeclared for McKinley County only

2010

Severe Storms and Flooding

$20K to the City of Gallup for repairs

McKinley County has had 8 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Gallup

Gallup and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Gallupmostly inland floodingLow

Church Rockmostly inland floodingVery low

Sundancemostly inland floodingVery low

Catalpa Canyonmostly inland floodingVery low

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. Gallup covers 6 census tracts, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Gallup total about $6.1M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.