Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0FEMA expects about as much hazard damage per building in Silt as in the typical U.S. town, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Silt gets a B for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 58% of U.S. towns, #52 of 159 in Colorado. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (88%). 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 Silt 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 Silt’s grade
River and rain flooding is 88% of the building damage FEMA expects in Silt, and Silt’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 65% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 7%, at a rate in the top 7% of U.S. census tracts.
B #52 of 159 in Colorado; lower expected damage per building than 58% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Silt’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
The typical Colorado town has higher expected damage than 56% of U.S. towns; within the state, Silt has less expected damage per building than 68% of Colorado towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $2.1M a year in losses across Silt: $611K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Silt flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Silt. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Silt isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Garfield County.The storms Silt remembers
None of the 3 disasters declared for Garfield County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Silt itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Garfield County has had 3 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 6 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Garfield County, 2002–2020.
Get ready for what Silt 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 Silt
Is Silt at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Silt has lower expected damage per building than 58% of U.S. towns: B for hazard risk, #52 of 159 in Colorado. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (88%) and wildfire (7%). 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 Silt 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 Garfield County, 0.4% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Silt?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Silt’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Silt at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (88%), and Silt’s rate for it is higher than 65% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Silt.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Silt’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.