Natural hazards · Hobbs

Hobbs, NM natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hobbs comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 133 claims here since 1979.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hobbs?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hobbs to be higher than in 81% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding73%Cold waves7%Everything else21%

By hazard

What Hobbs faces

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

Inland flooding

73% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Hobbs flood?

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

133paid claims since 1979

$894Kpaid to owners

4homes flooded more than once

19792026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

🏷️ 05% off flood insurance. Hobbs is in FEMA’s Community Rating System (class 9) for its flood-proofing work.

Insurance rates: Lea County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

19flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

1buildings floodproofed

Disasters that hit Hobbs

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into HobbsDeclared for Lea County only

Lea County has had 5 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. Hobbs covers 7 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Hobbs’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Hobbs. 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 Hobbs total about $17.1M 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.