Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Gila Bend

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Stout's HotelStout's Hotel · Photo: Marine 69-71 · CC BY-SA 4.0
A+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Gila Bend · FEMA

Less hazard damage per building is expected in Gila Bend than in 97% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Gila Bend gets an A+ for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 97% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%), then earthquakes (16%). Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1980.

River and rain flooding 70%Earthquakes 16%Wildfire 9%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

less than 97%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
A+
in Arizona · lower than 97% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
70% of expected building damage
Flood claims
7
paid since 1980 · $260K
Flood claims per home
10 per 1,000
more than 73% of U.S. towns

What stands out about Gila Bend’s natural hazards

From FEMA’s model and FEMA’s records, below.

Lower expected damage than 97% of U.S. townsFEMA’s model of yearly storm and flood damage per dollar of building.FEMA-funded flood-proofing34 buildings floodproofed with FEMA grants.
By hazard

What Gila Bend faces

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

River and rain flooding

70%of expected building damage
Well below average · lower than 90% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 8 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

16%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. census tracts

Wildfire

9%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 8% of U.S. census tracts
Smaller shares here
 Hail Strong wind Tornadoes Hurricanes Winter storms Heat waves Landslides Lightning
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingIce stormsCold wavesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts heat waves at 28% of Gila Bend’s expected losses. Heat waves do little damage to buildings (0.0%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Gila Bend’s grade

River and rain flooding is 70% of the building damage FEMA expects in Gila Bend, and Gila Bend’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 90% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 9%, at a rate in the top 8% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Gila Bend sits
Gila Bend
Least damageMiddleMost damage

A+ lower expected damage per building than 97% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Gila Bend’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding70%Earthquakes16%Wildfire9%Everything else5%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $2.1M a year in losses across Gila Bend: $874K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Gila Bend’s 1,892 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Theba CDP (111 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Gila Bend flood? Rarely: 7 flood claims since 1980

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Gila Bend, from FEMA’s records: 9.5 per 1,000 homes, more than 73% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
1980: 2 claims1981: 0 claims1982: 0 claims1983: 0 claims1984: 0 claims1985: 0 claims1986: 0 claims1987: 0 claims1988: 0 claims1989: 0 claims1990: 0 claims1991: 0 claims1992: 0 claims1993: 1 claim1994: 0 claims1995: 0 claims1996: 0 claims1997: 0 claims1998: 0 claims1999: 0 claims2000: 0 claims2001: 0 claims2002: 0 claims2003: 0 claims2004: 0 claims2005: 0 claims2006: 0 claims2007: 0 claims2008: 0 claims2009: 0 claims2010: 0 claims2011: 0 claims2012: 0 claims2013: 0 claims2014: 0 claims2015: 0 claims2016: 0 claims2017: 0 claims2018: 0 claims2019: 0 claims2020: 0 claims2021: 4 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims198019932021
19802026
7
paid claims since 1980
$260K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$37K
average claim
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Gila Bend isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Maricopa County.
What’s been done with FEMA grants
34buildings floodproofed
Disasters

The storms Gila Bend remembers

None of the 12 disasters declared for its 2 counties shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Gila Bend itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

  1. 20214 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
  2. 19802 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms and Flooding, declared for its 2 counties
  3. 19931 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding, declared for its 2 counties
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Gila Bendits 2 counties only

Its 2 counties have had 12 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often floods, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Also 11 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in its 2 counties, 2005–2024.

Were you here?

Old photos of Gila Bend after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Gila Bend archive →
Be ready

Get ready for what Gila Bend faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
  • Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
  • Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Earthquakes
  • Drop, cover and hold on.
  • Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
  • Know how to shut off the gas.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Wildfire
  • Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
  • Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
  • Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
  • Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
  • Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Gila Bend

Is Gila Bend at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Gila Bend has lower expected damage per building than 97% of U.S. towns: A+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%) and earthquakes (16%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Does Gila Bend flood?

Flood insurance has paid 7 claims in Gila Bend since 1980, $260K in all, or 9.5 per 1,000 homes, more than 73% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Is Gila Bend in a flood zone?

Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Maricopa County, 29% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.6% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Gila Bend?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Gila Bend’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

Is Gila Bend at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (70%), and Gila Bend’s rate for it is lower than 90% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Gila Bend.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Gila Bend’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.