64 flood insurance claims·$478,251 paid·5 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 Mora 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 profile of Mora County, supported by 42 recorded flash flood events and 3 general flood events over the last 30 years.
Recent historic events illustrate this risk. In May 2025, a combination of heavy late-season snow and a subsequent rain-on-snow event caused widespread flooding along the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, affecting areas around Mora. Later that year, in August 2025, repeated rounds of thunderstorms produced flash flooding downstream of the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon burn scar on State Highways 58 and 434 north of Cleveland.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay close attention to properties across multiple zones. FEMA records show 41 claims in Zone X with an average water depth of 10 inches and an average payout of $8,351, alongside 21 claims in Zone A averaging 1 inch of recorded water depth with an average payout of $24,482. Additionally, two claims were filed in Zone X_UNSHADED with an average payout of $17,447 and 0 inches of recorded water depth.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
9% of Mora County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
23 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 6 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 34 claims and $303,252 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.
42 NOAA storm reports from Mora County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the New Mexico flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Las Tusas Fire | May 10, 2023 |
| Wildfires, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Mudflows, And Debris Flows | Apr 5, 2022 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Sep 9, 2013 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 25, 2010 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jul 26, 2006 |
| Rivera Mesa Fire | Jun 18, 2006 |
| Ojo Feliz Fire | Apr 12, 2006 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
45 since 1996: 42 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 26, 2025 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 24, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 8, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 5, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 22, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 3, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 26, 2025. Higher moisture moved into eastern and central New Mexico behind a backdoor front resulting in a greater coverage of showers and thunderstorms across the middle Rio Grande Valley, central mountain chain, and northeast New Mexico. Repeated round of thunderstorms resulted in flash flooding on the Ruidoso area burn scars, State Highway 117 in central Cibola County south of Grants and downstream of the Hermits Peak an…
Flash Flood · Jun 24, 2025. An early season plume of monsoon moisture advected northward into New Mexico from June 22nd through the 24th bringing several days of flash flooding and severe weather across portions of northern and central NM. June 22nd in particular saw severe thunderstorms produce numerous severe wind gusts of 60 mph or stronger across eastern NM from Roswell to Nara Visa with reports of downed utility poles and arcing powerli…
Flood · May 8, 2025. A late season winter storm event from May 4th through the 6th dumped two to three feet of snow across the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. This event was followed by a rain on snow event from May 5th through the 8th in which flooding was experienced across a large section of the east slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from areas around Mora, to Las Vegas, to Mineral Hill. A fast warmup in temperatures continued b…
Flood · May 5, 2025. Abundant moisture pushed east to west across NM behind a strong cold front ahead of a strong upper level low approaching from AZ. The abundant moisture and favorable weather setup allowed for multiple days of strong to severe thunderstorms to develop across northern and central NM from May 4th through the 6th. Alongside all of this was unseasonably cold weather at higher elevations of the northern mountains. The S…
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 Mora 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.