Natural hazards · Thoreau

Thoreau, NM natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Thoreau?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Thoreau to be higher than in 13% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding58%Cold waves25%Lightning7%Earthquakes5%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Thoreau faces

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

Inland flooding

58% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

25% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Lightning

7% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 23% of U.S. places

Earthquakes

5% of expected damage

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

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Thoreau flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Thoreau 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 Thoreau

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into ThoreauDeclared for McKinley County only

McKinley County has had 8 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. Thoreau covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Thoreau’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Thoreau. 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 Thoreau total about $429K 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.