Natural hazards · San Mateo

San Mateo, NM natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is San Mateo?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in San Mateo to be higher than in 72% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding76%Cold waves9%Lightning7%Everything else8%

By hazard

What San Mateo faces

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

Inland flooding

76% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Lightning

7% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesDroughtTsunamis

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 San Mateo flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cibola County.

Disasters that hit San Mateo

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into San MateoDeclared for Cibola County only

Cibola County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods 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. San Mateo 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 San Mateo’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to San Mateo. 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.