Photo: Phillip Capper from Wellington, New Zealand · CC BY 2.0Naco’s building-damage rate from wildfire is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Naco gets a C+ for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 62% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (82%), then wildfire (15%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
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
What Naco 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
Wildfire
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.
What’s behind Naco’s grade
River and rain flooding is 82% of the building damage FEMA expects in Naco, and Naco’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 75% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 15%, at a rate in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts.
C+ higher expected damage per building than 62% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Naco’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $438K a year in losses across Naco: $309K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Naco flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Naco. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Naco isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Cochise County.The storms Naco remembers
None of the 6 disasters declared for Cochise County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Naco itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Cochise County has had 6 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 5 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Cochise County, 2003–2017.
Get ready for what Naco faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Naco
Is Naco at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Naco has higher expected damage per building than 62% of U.S. towns: C+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (82%) and wildfire (15%). 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.
Is Naco 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 Cochise County, 11% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Naco?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Naco’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Naco at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (82%), and Naco’s rate for it is higher than 75% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Naco.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Naco’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.