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Navajo, AZPhoto: Navajo Region Fire and Aviation Management Bureau of Indian Affairs · Public domain
B+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Navajo · FEMA

FEMA puts Navajo’s expected hazard damage per building below that of 67% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Navajo gets a B+ for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 67% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (96%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

River and rain flooding 96%Earthquakes 3%Wildfire 1%

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 67%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
B+
in New Mexico · lower than 67% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
96% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
0
of 8 declared for McKinley County
By hazard

What Navajo 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

96%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Earthquakes Wildfire Hail Tornadoes Strong wind Winter storms Ice storms Cold waves Heat waves Landslides Lightning
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts cold waves at 29% of Navajo’s expected losses. Cold 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 Navajo’s grade

River and rain flooding is 96% of the building damage FEMA expects in Navajo, and Navajo’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 64% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Navajo sits
Navajo
Least damageMiddleMost damage

B+ lower expected damage per building than 67% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding96%Earthquakes3%Everything else1%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $286K a year in losses across Navajo: $165K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Navajo’s 1,942 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract. FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s. 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 Navajo flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Navajo. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.

of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

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

Insurance rates: McKinley County.
Disasters

The storms Navajo remembers

None of the 8 disasters declared for McKinley County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Navajo itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in NavajoMcKinley County only

McKinley County has had 8 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.

Be ready

Get ready for what Navajo 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 ↗
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 Navajo

Is Navajo at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Navajo has lower expected damage per building than 67% of U.S. towns: B+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (96%). 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 Navajo 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 McKinley County, 4% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.2% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Navajo?

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

Is Navajo at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (96%), and Navajo’s rate for it is higher than 64% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Navajo.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Navajo’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.