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C−Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Paraje · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Paraje faces more hazard damage per building than 80% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Paraje gets a C− for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 80% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (94%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

River and rain flooding 94%Earthquakes 4%

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

more than 80%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
C−
in New Mexico · higher than 80% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
94% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
0
of 6 declared for Cibola County
By hazard

What Paraje 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

94%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 10% 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 Volcanic activity
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingHurricanesAvalanchesTsunamis
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts cold waves at 11% of Paraje’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 Paraje’s grade

River and rain flooding is 94% of the building damage FEMA expects in Paraje, and Paraje’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Paraje sits
Paraje
Least damageMiddleMost damage

C− higher expected damage per building than 80% of U.S. towns (21,298).

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

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding94%Earthquakes4%Everything else1%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $228K a year in losses across Paraje: $174K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Paraje’s 705 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Laguna CDP (1,282 residents) and Mesita CDP (793 residents) and Seama CDP (478 residents) and Paguate CDP (474 residents) and Encinal CDP (207 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. 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 Paraje flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Paraje. 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

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

Insurance rates: Cibola County.
Disasters

The storms Paraje remembers

None of the 6 disasters declared for Cibola County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Paraje itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in ParajeCibola County only

Cibola County has had 6 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.

Next door

Paraje and its neighbors

Paraje has the lowest expected damage per building of the 1 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Seama: not gradedLaguna: not gradedSeamaLagunaParaje
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
ParajeC−more damage than 80%river and rain flooding0
Seama—538 residents; we grade 1,000+
Laguna—459 residents; we grade 1,000+

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Paraje 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 Paraje

Is Paraje at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Paraje has higher expected damage per building than 80% of U.S. towns: C− for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (94%). 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 Paraje 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 Cibola County, 7% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.6% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Paraje?

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

Is Paraje at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (94%), and Paraje’s rate for it is in the top 10% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Paraje.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

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