Natural hazards · Taos

Taos, NM natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Taos comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low 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 Taos?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Taos to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding71%Lightning8%Wildfire7%Cold waves5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Taos faces

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

Inland flooding

71% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lightning

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Wildfire

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong wind

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 Taos flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Taos County.

Disasters that hit Taos

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into TaosDeclared for Taos County only

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Extreme Cold Temperatures

$69K to the Town of Taos for repairs

Taos County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Taos

Taos and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Ranchos de Taosmostly avalanchesHigh

Taosmostly inland floodingLow

Taos Pueblomostly avalanchesLow

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. Taos 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 Taos’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Taos. 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.