Natural hazards · Tularosa

Tularosa, NM natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Tularosa comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Tularosa?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Tularosa to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding66%Drought15%Everything else20%

By hazard

What Tularosa faces

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

Inland flooding

66% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Drought

15% of expected damage

Recorded about 74 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingTsunamis

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 Tularosa flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Otero County.

Disasters that hit Tularosa

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into TularosaDeclared for Otero County only

2024

South Fork Fire, Salt Fire, and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $8K aid approved

2011

Severe Winter Storm and Extreme Cold Temperatures

$26K to the Village of Tularosa for repairs

2006

Severe Storms and Flooding

14 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

Otero County has had 17 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. Tularosa 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 Tularosa’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Tularosa. 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.