Natural hazards · San Rafael

San Rafael, NM natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is San Rafael?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in San Rafael to be higher than in 59% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding67%Wildfire13%Cold waves8%Lightning6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What San Rafael faces

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

Inland flooding

67% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamis

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 Rafael flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. San Rafael 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 Rafael

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into San RafaelDeclared for Cibola County only

Cibola County has had 6 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around San Rafael

San Rafael and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Grantsmostly inland floodingHigh

San Rafaelmostly inland floodingModerate

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 Rafael 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 Rafael’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to San Rafael. 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.