FEMA declarations
111
High volume
State profile · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Colorado Natural Disasters
Colorado carries a substantial federal disaster record. 111 FEMA disaster declarations are on record, led by fire, with $5.8B in combined property and crop damage. The count also reflects declaration policy and program use; it is not a direct measure of physical hazard frequency. NOAA storm event data shows 18,340 recorded weather events resulting in 105 fatalities, figures the state uses to prioritize disaster-preparedness planning.
- 111
- FEMA declarations
- 18,340
- NOAA storm events
- 105
- Storm fatalities
- $5.8B
- Property + crop damage
The Colorado risk picture
2 of the 64 counties FEMA scores, 3%, carry a FEMA "high-risk" National Risk Index rating, with riverine flooding the single largest driver of expected annual loss statewide. Colorado has 25 Major Disaster (DR) declarations; FEMA authorizes Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both separately for each declaration. NOAA-tracked storms have caused 777 injuries statewide.
- 3%
- of counties rated high-risk by FEMA National Risk Index
- 111
- FEMA disaster declarations on record
- $5.8B
- in tracked property + crop damage
- 5,556
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed statewide
FEMA's National Risk Index and NOAA's Storm Events Database measure different things: modeled long-run risk vs. observed severe-weather events. Storm Events is a reported dataset, so its counts track what was observed and logged, not every event that occurred, and reporting is denser where more people live. See the methodology for how they relate.
Major Disaster share
23%
Few majors
NOAA storm events
18,340
Observed severe-weather records
How does Colorado compare?
Colorado vs. every U.S. state
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
111 Top 20% higher than 80% of 59 states and territories
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states and territories. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Colorado county risk-score spread
FEMA National Risk Index composite scores, 0–100
40.7 Top 45% higher than 55% of 64 county composite scores
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more county composite scores. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA National Risk Index (NRI), county composite scores · 2026-08-25
The declaration chart counts past federal actions. The county score chart summarizes FEMA's modeled National Risk Index composite; it is not a forecast, and a state average does not describe every county.
Do more storms mean more federal disasters?
Colorado sits at the 78th percentile of FEMA declaration volume and the 73rd percentile of NOAA storm-event volume among 55 states and territories, those two ranks are not interchangeable.
FEMA declaration rank vs NOAA storm-event rank
Read the chart, every state as text
Percentiles are within this release's state/territory sample. Raw counts are the underlying FEMA and NOAA totals.
| State | FEMA decls | FEMA %ile | NOAA storms | NOAA %ile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 396 | 98 | 23,694 | 93 |
| Texas | 389 | 96 | 53,309 | 98 |
| Oklahoma | 258 | 95 | 23,896 | 95 |
| Washington | 215 | 93 | 4,408 | 22 |
| Florida | 188 | 91 | 12,838 | 55 |
| Oregon | 169 | 89 | 3,695 | 20 |
| New Mexico | 126 | 87 | 10,974 | 45 |
| Arizona | 120 | 85 | 9,541 | 38 |
| New York | 118 | 84 | 21,653 | 82 |
| Montana | 112 | 82 | 13,576 | 56 |
| Colorado | 111 | 78 | 18,340 | 73 |
| Louisiana | 111 | 78 | 11,204 | 47 |
| Nevada | 110 | 76 | 4,534 | 24 |
| Alabama | 102 | 75 | 14,583 | 64 |
| Kentucky | 98 | 71 | 19,947 | 78 |
| Mississippi | 98 | 71 | 14,100 | 62 |
| Tennessee | 97 | 69 | 16,645 | 69 |
| South Dakota | 96 | 67 | 22,759 | 87 |
| Alaska | 94 | 64 | 2,683 | 15 |
| Kansas | 94 | 64 | 25,115 | 96 |
| Arkansas | 87 | 60 | 13,637 | 58 |
| Nebraska | 87 | 60 | 20,136 | 80 |
| Missouri | 86 | 58 | 22,952 | 89 |
| North Carolina | 85 | 56 | 16,367 | 67 |
| West Virginia | 84 | 55 | 12,026 | 49 |
| Georgia | 81 | 51 | 16,676 | 71 |
| Minnesota | 81 | 51 | 19,109 | 75 |
| Iowa | 78 | 49 | 21,883 | 84 |
| Virginia | 77 | 47 | 23,584 | 91 |
| North Dakota | 75 | 45 | 10,818 | 44 |
| Hawaii | 72 | 44 | 6,200 | 31 |
| Maine | 71 | 42 | 4,781 | 27 |
| Illinois | 68 | 40 | 22,088 | 85 |
| Pennsylvania | 64 | 38 | 19,427 | 76 |
| New Hampshire | 63 | 36 | 2,547 | 11 |
| Vermont | 62 | 35 | 3,449 | 18 |
| Idaho | 60 | 31 | 5,142 | 29 |
| Ohio | 60 | 31 | 16,184 | 65 |
| Massachusetts | 59 | 25 | 6,781 | 33 |
| New Jersey | 59 | 25 | 8,218 | 35 |
| Utah | 59 | 25 | 4,578 | 25 |
| Wisconsin | 56 | 24 | 13,807 | 60 |
| Indiana | 54 | 22 | 12,687 | 53 |
| Puerto Rico | 51 | 18 | 2,944 | 16 |
| South Carolina | 51 | 18 | 10,520 | 42 |
| Michigan | 46 | 16 | 9,052 | 36 |
| Wyoming | 45 | 15 | 12,494 | 51 |
| Connecticut | 43 | 13 | 2,622 | 13 |
| Maryland | 38 | 11 | 10,290 | 40 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 33 | 9 | 88 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 31 | 7 | 924 | 7 |
| Delaware | 26 | 5 | 1,475 | 9 |
| Guam | 25 | 4 | 258 | 2 |
| District of Columbia | 24 | 2 | 452 | 5 |
| American Samoa | 17 | 0 | 292 | 4 |
What shapes Colorado's record?
FEMA declaration types in Colorado
Wider bars = more declarations of that incident type
- Fire
Fire
85 declarations
- Flood 14
Flood
14 declarations
- Snowstorm 3
Snowstorm
3 declarations
- Severe Storm 3
Severe Storm
3 declarations
- Biological 2
Biological
2 declarations
- Drought 1
Drought
1 declarations
- Tornado 1
Tornado
1 declarations
- Coastal Storm 1
Coastal Storm
1 declarations
What this shows Fire leads Colorado's FEMA declaration mix with 85 records among the types shown.
NOAA storm events by year in Colorado
Reported severe-weather events, 2015-2025 catalog window
Peak year in this series: 2023 (2,102 events). Counts are reported events, not a complete census.
85 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Colorado · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite mixing OpenFEMA declaration totals (1953–present) with NOAA Storm Events (2015–2025), different windows and event definitions, disclosed weights on the methodology page . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) High
19/30
111 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.3x state average)
NOAA Storm Events (2015–2025) Very High
21/25
18340 NOAA storm events in the 2015–2025 extract (1.7x median state)
NOAA Damage (2015–2025) Very High
25/25
Recorded NOAA property+crop damage in the 2015–2025 extract (10.0x median state)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
9 different disaster types declared in Colorado
What does Colorado's hazard record show?
NOAA storm events & FEMA National Risk Index
NOAA's Storm Events Database adds the near-term severe-weather lens. Between 2015 and 2025, Colorado recorded 18,340 individual storm events, causing 105 fatalities and 777 injuries, with combined property and crop damage estimated at $5.8B. The most frequent event types in the state are Hail (4,913 events), Winter Weather (2,620 events), High Wind (1,992 events). Across the 64counties FEMA scores here, its National Risk Index flags 2 as high-risk, with an average county Risk Index score (FEMA's own formula, distinct from our Historical Activity tool below) of 40.7/100.
What this count is, and is not. Storm Events is a reported database: NOAA compiles it from National Weather Service offices, trained spotters, law enforcement, and the public. It is a record of what was observed and logged, not a complete census of severe weather. Densely populated areas report more events than sparsely populated ones with similar meteorological exposure, and detection has improved over time, so an event count is not a like-for-like measure of hazard between places or across decades. Damage figures are field estimates, not audited losses. See methodology.
FEMA disaster declarations
Colorado (CO) has a high level of federal declaration activity, with 111 FEMA declaration records, including 25 Major Disaster declarations (DR). A DR may authorize Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both; those program approvals are not implied by the DR count. The dominant declaration type is Fire, followed by Flood (14), Snowstorm (3), Severe Storm (3). Declaration counts at the state level reflect the cumulative federal footprint: large multi-county events count once per state, but repeat hazard patterns across decades are visible in the breakdown below.
Flood exposure & where to dig deeper
Flood exposure is quantified separately through the National Flood Insurance Program. Policyholders across 53Colorado counties have filed 5,556 NFIP claims totaling $90.2M, or an average of $16.2K per claim. NFIP data captures only insured flood losses, so uninsured flood damage and storm-surge losses outside mapped high-risk zones remain invisible in this figure. The highest-Expected-Annual-Loss hazard across the state is Riverine Flooding, estimated at $1.0B annually. Drill into individual counties for localized risk, read FEMA's hazard-specific briefings, and review insurance and flood-zone designations, state-level averages can mask sharp county-to-county differences in exposure and resilience.
Disaster Types in Colorado
Share of this state's FEMA declarations; the bar chart above is the same mix as counts.
Fire
76.6%
85 declarations
Flood
12.6%
14 declarations
Snowstorm
2.7%
3 declarations
Severe Storm
2.7%
3 declarations
Biological
1.8%
2 declarations
Drought
0.9%
1 declarations
Tornado
0.9%
1 declarations
Coastal Storm
0.9%
1 declarations
Dam/Levee Break
0.9%
1 declarations
Storm Events by Type
NOAA storm event data for Colorado (2015-2025).
| Event Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 4,913 | 0 | 100 | $2.9B |
| Winter Weather | 2,620 | 3 | 23 | $22.5K |
| High Wind | 1,992 | 5 | 6 | $20.9M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,741 | 2 | 11 | $5.4M |
| Winter Storm | 1,497 | 0 | 0 | $848.0K |
| Heavy Snow | 1,176 | 0 | 0 | $1.0K |
| Drought | 870 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flash Flood | 563 | 9 | 10 | $9.7M |
| Heavy Rain | 536 | 0 | 4 | $67.0K |
| Tornado | 471 | 0 | 5 | $3.0M |
| Frost/Freeze | 337 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Wildfire | 329 | 7 | 12 | $2.4B |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 266 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Dense Fog | 249 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Debris Flow | 218 | 0 | 0 | $158.3M |
| Flood | 165 | 14 | 5 | $13.7M |
| Blizzard | 109 | 4 | 3 | $100.0K |
| Avalanche | 72 | 49 | 32 | $32.5K |
| Dust Storm | 50 | 1 | 7 | $0 |
| Funnel Cloud | 39 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Storm Events by Year
| Year | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,836 | 3 | 3 | $1.9M |
| 2024 | 1,896 | 7 | 6 | $5.1M |
| 2023 | 2,102 | 15 | 105 | $47.9M |
| 2022 | 1,587 | 12 | 27 | $925.4K |
| 2021 | 1,844 | 18 | 33 | $2.2B |
| 2020 | 1,828 | 14 | 16 | $296.0M |
| 2019 | 1,748 | 21 | 18 | $1.4M |
| 2018 | 1,765 | 3 | 16 | $669.2M |
| 2017 | 1,095 | 4 | 507 | $2.3B |
| 2016 | 1,347 | 5 | 19 | $890.2K |
| 2015 | 1,292 | 3 | 27 | $8.7M |
FEMA Disaster Declarations
How the 111 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download all 111 declarations as CSV . Source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
111 unique disaster declarations in Colorado.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5644 | WILLOW FIRE | FM | Fire | 2026-07-05 |
| 5643 | GOLD MOUNTAIN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2026-06-30 |
| 5642 | ASPEN ACRES FIRE | FM | Fire | 2026-06-29 |
| 5606 | OAK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-08-11 |
| 5603 | LEE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-08-06 |
| 5604 | ELK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-08-06 |
| 5526 | QUARRY FIRE | FM | Fire | 2024-08-01 |
| 5525 | STONE MOUNTAIN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2024-07-31 |
| 5524 | ALEXANDER MOUNTAIN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2024-07-31 |
| 4731 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Flood | 2023-08-25 |
| 4634 | WILDFIRES AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Fire | 2021-12-31 |
| 5423 | MARSHALL FIRE | FM | Fire | 2021-12-30 |
| 4581 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2021-01-15 |
| 5378 | EAST TROUBLESOME FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-10-17 |
| 5379 | CALWOOD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-10-17 |
| 5349 | CAMERON PEAK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-09-06 |
| 5335 | PINE GULCH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-08-19 |
| 5334 | GRIZZLY CREEK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-08-19 |
| 4498 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-28 |
| 3436 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5249 | LAKE CHRISTINE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2018-07-04 |
| 5247 | CHATEAU FIRE | FM | Fire | 2018-06-30 |
| 5246 | SPRING CREEK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2018-06-28 |
| 5157 | JUNKINS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2016-10-17 |
| 5155 | BEULAH HILL FIRE | FM | Fire | 2016-10-04 |
| 5133 | COLD SPRINGS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2016-07-10 |
| 4229 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2015-07-16 |
| 4145 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2013-09-14 |
| 3365 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2013-09-12 |
| 4134 | BLACK FOREST WILDFIRE | DR | Fire | 2013-07-26 |
| 4133 | ROYAL GORGE FIRE | DR | Fire | 2013-07-26 |
| 5030 | EAST PEAK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2013-06-21 |
| 5031 | WEST FORK FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2013-06-21 |
| 5028 | ROYAL GORGE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2013-06-11 |
| 5027 | BLACK FOREST FIRE | FM | Fire | 2013-06-11 |
| 5022 | WETMORE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-10-23 |
| 4067 | HIGH PARK AND WALDO CANYON WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2012-06-28 |
| 2984 | WALDO CANYON FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-06-24 |
| 2985 | WEBER FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-06-24 |
| 2980 | HIGH PARK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-06-09 |
| 2975 | LOWER NORTH FORK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-03-26 |
| 2923 | DUCKETT FIRE | FM | Fire | 2011-06-16 |
| 2877 | CRYSTAL FIRE | FM | Fire | 2011-04-03 |
| 2873 | INDIAN GULCH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2011-03-21 |
| 2857 | RESERVOIR ROAD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2010-09-12 |
| 2855 | FOUR MILE CANYON FIRE | FM | Fire | 2010-09-06 |
| 2793 | OLDE STAGE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2009-01-07 |
| 2778 | NASH RANCH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2008-06-27 |
| 1762 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-05-26 |
| 2760 | ORDWAY FIRE | FM | Fire | 2008-04-15 |
Showing 50 of 111 declarations.
FEMA National Risk Index
Composite natural hazard risk scores for Colorado counties based on FEMA's National Risk Index.
Avg County Risk Score
40.7/100
High Risk Counties
2
of 64 counties
Top Hazard by EAL
Riverine Flooding
$1.0B annual loss est.
Top 5 Hazards by Expected Annual Loss
#1
Riverine Flooding
$960.2M EAL
#2
Hail
$341.5M EAL
#3
Wildfire
$211.2M EAL
#4
Tornado
$188.3M EAL
#5
Cold Wave
$128.8M EAL
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) EAL = Expected Annual Loss. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
National Flood Insurance Program claims across Colorado from FEMA NFIP data.
Total Claims
5,556
Total Paid
$90.2M
Avg Per Claim
$16.2K
Counties With Claims
53
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
Counties in Colorado
64 counties with FEMA disaster data. Declaration counts measure past federal action; NRI rating is FEMA's modeled composite, so a high count is not a high rating.
| # | County | Disasters | NRI rating | Major |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larimer County | 30 | Relatively Moderate | 13 |
| 2 | El Paso County | 20 | Relatively Moderate | 12 |
| 3 | Pueblo County | 19 | Relatively Moderate | 7 |
| 4 | Boulder County | 19 | Relatively Moderate | 7 |
| 5 | Weld County | 16 | Relatively Moderate | 12 |
| 6 | Jefferson County | 15 | Relatively High | 6 |
| 7 | Fremont County | 15 | Relatively Low | 7 |
| 8 | Washington County | 13 | Very Low | 9 |
| 9 | Elbert County | 13 | Very Low | 8 |
| 10 | Douglas County | 13 | Relatively Moderate | 6 |
| 11 | Custer County | 13 | Very Low | 3 |
| 12 | Las Animas County | 13 | Very Low | 4 |
| 13 | Teller County | 13 | Very Low | 6 |
| 14 | Morgan County | 12 | Relatively Low | 8 |
| 15 | Adams County | 12 | Relatively Moderate | 7 |
| 16 | Arapahoe County | 12 | Relatively Moderate | 7 |
| 17 | Crowley County | 12 | Very Low | 7 |
| 18 | Garfield County | 12 | Relatively Low | 3 |
| 19 | Park County | 12 | Very Low | 4 |
| 20 | Logan County | 12 | Relatively Low | 9 |
| 21 | Baca County | 11 | Very Low | 7 |
| 22 | Denver County | 11 | Relatively High | 6 |
| 23 | Kiowa County | 11 | Very Low | 7 |
| 24 | La Plata County | 10 | Relatively Low | 4 |
| 25 | Costilla County | 10 | Very Low | 4 |
| 26 | Lincoln County | 10 | Very Low | 7 |
| 27 | Huerfano County | 10 | Very Low | 2 |
| 28 | Prowers County | 9 | Relatively Low | 5 |
| 29 | Otero County | 9 | Relatively Low | 5 |
| 30 | Gunnison County | 9 | Relatively Low | 4 |
| 31 | Delta County | 9 | Relatively Low | 5 |
| 32 | San Miguel County | 9 | Very Low | 5 |
| 33 | Clear Creek County | 9 | Relatively Low | 5 |
| 34 | Rio Grande County | 9 | Relatively Low | 4 |
| 35 | Montrose County | 9 | Relatively Low | 5 |
| 36 | Eagle County | 9 | Relatively Low | 3 |
| 37 | Sedgwick County | 9 | Very Low | 7 |
| 38 | Cheyenne County | 9 | Very Low | 5 |
| 39 | Saguache County | 9 | Very Low | 5 |
| 40 | Ouray County | 9 | Very Low | 5 |
| 41 | Bent County | 9 | Very Low | 5 |
| 42 | Mesa County | 8 | Relatively Low | 3 |
| 43 | Montezuma County | 8 | Relatively Low | 4 |
| 44 | Grand County | 8 | Relatively Low | 3 |
| 45 | Gilpin County | 8 | Very Low | 4 |
| 46 | Archuleta County | 8 | Very Low | 4 |
| 47 | Hinsdale County | 8 | Very Low | 5 |
| 48 | Dolores County | 8 | Very Low | 5 |
| 49 | Mineral County | 8 | Very Low | 4 |
| 50 | Alamosa County | 7 | Very Low | 4 |
| 51 | Rio Blanco County | 7 | Very Low | 3 |
| 52 | Kit Carson County | 7 | Very Low | 4 |
| 53 | Conejos County | 7 | Very Low | 4 |
| 54 | Yuma County | 7 | Very Low | 5 |
| 55 | Summit County | 6 | Relatively Low | 2 |
| 56 | Lake County | 6 | Very Low | 3 |
| 57 | Phillips County | 6 | Very Low | 4 |
| 58 | Jackson County | 6 | Very Low | 2 |
| 59 | Pitkin County | 6 | Relatively Low | 3 |
| 60 | Routt County | 6 | Very Low | 3 |
| 61 | Broomfield County | 6 | Very Low | 1 |
| 62 | San Juan County | 6 | Very Low | 4 |
| 63 | Moffat County | 6 | Very Low | 3 |
| 64 | Chaffee County | 5 | Relatively Low | 2 |
Highest-risk counties by FEMA National Risk Index
Declaration counts above measure past federal action; FEMA's NRI is a composite of Expected Annual Loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience. By that separate measure the highest-risk counties in Colorado are Denver (Relatively High), Jefferson (Relatively High), El Paso (Relatively Moderate), Arapahoe (Relatively Moderate), Adams (Relatively Moderate). Compare any county's recorded history with the Historical Activity tool.
All 64 counties in Colorado are listed above.
Compare beyond this profile
Nationwide states with similar NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Colorado: nearest states by average county National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar average NRI composite
Nearest states by mean county FEMA NRI score. Colorado: 40.7 across 64 scored counties.
Similar declaration volume
Nearest states by FEMA declaration count. Colorado: 111. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Disaster Preparedness Guides
Learn more about natural disaster risk, preparedness, and data interpretation.
Preparing for Natural Disasters
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Hazard Risk by Region
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Climate Change & Disasters
How climate trends are changing the frequency and severity of natural disasters.
Frequently Asked Questions
What natural disasters affect Colorado?
Colorado is affected by fire, flood, snowstorm, severe storm. The most common disaster type is Fire, based on 111 FEMA disaster declarations on record.
How many FEMA disaster declarations has Colorado had?
Colorado has received 111 FEMA disaster declarations, including 25 major disaster declarations. That total is spread across disaster types including Fire (85), Flood (14), Snowstorm (3).
What severe weather events are most common in Colorado?
The most common severe weather events in Colorado include hail (4,913 events), winter weather (2,620 events), high wind (1,992 events). Between 2015 and 2025, NOAA recorded these events causing 105 fatalities and $5.8B in property and crop damage.
How active is Colorado's federal disaster declaration record?
Colorado has a high level of historical federal declaration activity, based on 111 FEMA declaration records. This band is not a future-risk forecast. Separately, NOAA storm events from 2015-2025 record 105 fatalities and 777 injuries. NOAA property and crop damage records total $5.8B.
How many flood insurance claims has Colorado had?
Colorado has 5,556 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims with $90.2M total paid out. Per-claim payments average $16.2K, with 53 counties reporting flood insurance claims.
Which counties in Colorado have the most disaster declarations?
Among 64 counties in Colorado, those with the most FEMA declaration records include Larimer (30 declarations), El Paso (20 declarations), Pueblo (19 declarations). Breaking the declarations down by county reveals patterns a statewide total can mask.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025) For informational purposes only
What this means for Colorado
Larimer alone accounts for 27% of Colorado's FEMA disaster declarations, out of 64 counties tracked statewide.
- The declaration record is uneven within the state: Larimer and El Paso carry the most FEMA declarations. Browse counties
- See how Colorado ranks against other states for disaster frequency and damage. State rankings
- Learn what FEMA declarations, NRI risk scores, and damage figures do and don't tell you. Disaster-data guide
Historical declaration counts and damage totals describe past federal response, not a forecast. For current threats, follow the National Weather Service and local officials; in an emergency call 911.
PlainHazard derives this presentation from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries. Its county comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-25. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.