Natural hazards · Smith Valley

Smith Valley, NV natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Smith Valley comes from earthquakes, 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 Smith Valley?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Smith Valley to be higher than in 87% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and wildfires.

Earthquakes37%Wildfire28%Inland flooding28%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Smith Valley faces

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

Earthquakes

37% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Wildfire

28% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesLandslidesStrong windLightningDroughtAvalanchesVolcanic activity

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingHurricanesCold wavesTsunamis

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 Smith Valley flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lyon County.

Disasters that hit Smith Valley

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into Smith ValleyDeclared for Lyon County only

Lyon County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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