Photo: Cobun Keegan · CC BY-SA 3.0On FEMA’s figures, Paonia faces more hazard damage per building than 91% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Paonia gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 91% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (92%). Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1980.
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 Paonia 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
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 Paonia’s grade
River and rain flooding is 92% of the building damage FEMA expects in Paonia, and Paonia’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 4%, at a rate in the top 5% of U.S. census tracts.
D higher expected damage per building than 91% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Paonia’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.2M a year in losses across Paonia: $1.0M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Paonia flood? Rarely: 4 flood claims since 1980
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Paonia, from FEMA’s records: 4.2 per 1,000 homes, more than 56% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.
Paonia isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Delta County.The storms Paonia remembers
None of the 5 disasters declared for Delta County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Paonia itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
- 19842 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms, Mudslides, Landslides and Flooding, declared for Delta County
- 19801 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
- 19921 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
Delta County has had 5 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 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Delta County, 2004–2004.
Old photos of Paonia after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Paonia archive →Get ready for what Paonia 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.
- 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 Paonia
Is Paonia at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Paonia has higher expected damage per building than 91% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (92%). 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 Paonia flood?
Flood insurance has paid 4 claims in Paonia since 1980, $47K in all, or 4.2 per 1,000 homes, more than 56% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.
Is Paonia 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 Delta County, 9% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Paonia?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Paonia’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Paonia at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (92%), and Paonia’s rate for it is in the top 4% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Paonia.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Paonia’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.