Natural hazards · Velarde

Velarde, NM natural hazards

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

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Velarde?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Velarde to be higher than in 90% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding74%Wildfire14%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Velarde faces

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

Inland flooding

74% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanches

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Velarde flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rio Arriba County.

Disasters that hit Velarde

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into VelardeDeclared for Rio Arriba County only

Rio Arriba County has had 13 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. Velarde 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 Velarde’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Velarde. 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.