269 flood insurance claims·$17.1M paid·9 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Lincoln County, New Mexico. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Lincoln County, accounting for 115 events and 2 deaths over the last 30 years, alongside 3 general flood events resulting in 1 death.
Monsoonal moisture, daytime heating, and burn scars frequently trigger these destructive events. For example, intense storms produced flash flooding and debris flows on the South Fork burn scar near downtown Ruidoso in June 2025. Similar slow-moving monsoon thunderstorms generated flash flooding on and downstream of the Ruidoso and Salt burn scars and in Lincoln in August 2025.
Homeowners and real estate professionals should pay the most attention to properties in high-risk zones, as the National Flood Insurance Program records substantial impacts across multiple designations. Zone A accounts for 140 claims with an average payout of $85,612 and an average recorded water depth of 23 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X records 117 claims with an average payout of $81,872 and an average recorded water depth of 31 inches, indicating that significant flood risks extend beyond traditional high-risk boundaries.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Lincoln County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
144 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 26 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2025, with 88 claims and $7.9M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
94 NOAA storm reports from Lincoln County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New Mexico flood stories →
35 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides | Jun 23, 2025 |
| Salt Fire | Jun 17, 2024 |
| South Fork Fire | Jun 17, 2024 |
| South Fork Fire, Salt Fire, And Flooding | Jun 17, 2024 |
| Blue 2 Fire | May 16, 2024 |
| Mcbride Fire | Apr 12, 2022 |
| Nogal Canyon Fire | Apr 12, 2022 |
| Wildfires, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Mudflows, And Debris Flows | Apr 5, 2022 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
118 since 1996: 115 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2025 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 31, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2025 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 29, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 28, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 28, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 31, 2025. A disturbance rotating north around the upper high circulation centered over south central U.S. followed by a backdoor front entering eastern New Mexico in the middle of the week increased monsoon moisture and shower and thunderstorm coverage across the state. Daily slow moving thunderstorms on the Ruidoso burn scars during the afternoon hours resulted in several occurrences flash flooding on and downstream of the…
Flash Flood · Jul 30, 2025. A disturbance rotating north around the upper high circulation centered over south central U.S. followed by a backdoor front entering eastern New Mexico in the middle of the week increased monsoon moisture and shower and thunderstorm coverage across the state. Daily slow moving thunderstorms on the Ruidoso burn scars during the afternoon hours resulted in several occurrences flash flooding on and downstream of the…
Flash Flood · Aug 29, 2025. Monsoon Moisture across central and eastern New Mexico along with a backdoor front entering northeast NM resulted in the development of scattered shower and thunderstorm activity across these portions of the state. A slow moving thunderstorm resulted in flash flooding on State Highway 76 near Chimayo. Severe thunderstorms resulted in damaging wind gusts of up to 70 mph across Union and Harding County. Finally, mid…
Flash Flood · Sep 28, 2025. A troughing pattern from the Pacific brought in a late season monsoon burst of moisture to the Desert Southwest. Strong to severe thunderstorms developed over portions of the state with more locally heavy rainfall events occurring from the abundant monsoon moisture. Flash flooding was observed in several locations ranging from near El Malpais south of Grants, NM, in Navajo Nation west of Crownpoint, and in Tijeras…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Lincoln County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.