Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0On FEMA’s figures, Bayfield faces more hazard damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bayfield gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns, #144 of 159 in Colorado. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (66%), then wildfire (32%). 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 Bayfield 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 Bayfield’s grade
River and rain flooding is 66% of the building damage FEMA expects in Bayfield, and Bayfield’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 88% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 32%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
D #144 of 159 in Colorado; higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns (21,298).
Bayfield’s residents live in 2 census tracts; FEMA’s figures are combined by where they live.
The typical Colorado town has higher expected damage than 56% of U.S. towns; within the state, Bayfield has more expected damage per building than 91% of Colorado towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $2.8M a year in losses across Bayfield: $1.8M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Bayfield flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Bayfield. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Bayfield isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: La Plata County.The storms Bayfield remembers
None of the 4 disasters declared for La Plata County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Bayfield itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
La Plata County has had 4 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 3 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in La Plata County, 2002–2002.
Get ready for what Bayfield 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 Bayfield
Is Bayfield at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Bayfield has higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk, #144 of 159 in Colorado. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (66%) and wildfire (32%). This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.
Is Bayfield 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 La Plata County, 17% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.3% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Bayfield?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Bayfield’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Bayfield at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (66%), and Bayfield’s rate for it is higher than 88% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Bayfield.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Bayfield’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.