Photo: Wordbuilder · CC BY 3.0More hazard damage per building is expected in Santa Rosa than in 88% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Santa Rosa gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns, #56 of 73 in New Mexico. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (87%), then wildfire (11%). 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 Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa’s grade
River and rain flooding is 87% of the building damage FEMA expects in Santa Rosa, and Santa Rosa’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is in the top 7% of U.S. census tracts. Wildfire adds 11%, at a rate in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts.
D #56 of 73 in New Mexico; higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Santa Rosa’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
The typical New Mexico town has higher expected damage than 71% of U.S. towns; within the state, Santa Rosa has more expected damage per building than 76% of New Mexico towns.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.9M a year in losses across Santa Rosa: $1.7M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Santa Rosa flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Santa Rosa. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Santa Rosa isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Guadalupe County.The storms Santa Rosa remembers
None of the 6 disasters declared for Guadalupe County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Santa Rosa itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.
Guadalupe County has had 6 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.
Get ready for what Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa
Is Santa Rosa at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Santa Rosa has higher expected damage per building than 88% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk, #56 of 73 in New Mexico. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (87%) and wildfire (11%). 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 Santa Rosa 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 Guadalupe County, 0.0% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Santa Rosa?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Santa Rosa’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
Is Santa Rosa at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (87%), and Santa Rosa’s rate for it is in the top 7% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Santa Rosa.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Santa Rosa’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.