Editorial

Most disaster-prone counties in Colorado

Colorado has 649 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 64 counties. The dominant hazard type is flood. Larimer County leads with 30 declarations, followed by El Paso County and Boulder County.

This ranking shows every county in Colorado ordered by how many times FEMA has issued a disaster declaration affecting it. Counties near coastlines, river systems, or wildfire corridors tend to appear at the top because the same geographic exposure produces recurring events across decades.

Each county links to a full disaster history page with the complete declaration timeline, hazard type breakdown, decade trends, and whatever FEMA spending data is available. For a national view, see the most disaster-prone counties in America page.

Colorado ranking

All counties by FEMA declaration count

#CountyDeclarationsTop hazardFirst yearLatest year
1Larimer County30Fire19652024
2El Paso County20Flood19652023
3Boulder County19Fire19692024
4Pueblo County18Fire19652020
5Weld County16Flood19652020
6Fremont County15Fire19652020
7Jefferson County15Fire19692024
8Douglas County13Fire19652023
9Elbert County13Flood19652023
10Las Animas County13Fire19652020
11Teller County13Fire19652023
12Washington County13Flood19652023
13Adams County12Flood19652020
14Arapahoe County12Flood19652023
15Crowley County12Coastal Storm19652020
16Custer County12Fire19992020
17Garfield County12Fire19772020
18Logan County12Flood19652023
19Morgan County12Flood19652020
20Park County12Fire19692020
21Baca County11Flood19652023
22Denver County11Flood19652020
23Kiowa County11Coastal Storm19652023
24Costilla County10Fire19702020
25Huerfano County10Fire19772020
26La Plata County10Fire19702020
27Lincoln County10Flood19652023
28Bent County9Coastal Storm19652020
29Cheyenne County9Biological19652023
30Clear Creek County9Flood19692020
31Delta County9Flood19702020
32Eagle County9Fire19772020
33Gunnison County9Biological19732020
34Montrose County9Flood19702020
35Otero County9Biological19652020
36Prowers County9Biological19652023
37Rio Grande County9Fire19702020
38Saguache County9Flood19702020
39San Miguel County9Flood19702020
40Sedgwick County9Flood19652020
41Archuleta County8Biological19702025
42Dolores County8Flood19702020
43Gilpin County8Biological19692020
44Grand County8Fire19772021
45Hinsdale County8Flood19702020
46Mesa County8Fire19772020
47Mineral County8Biological19702020
48Montezuma County8Biological19702020
49Ouray County8Flood19702020
50Alamosa County7Biological19702020
51Conejos County7Biological19702020
52Kit Carson County7Biological19652023
53Rio Blanco County7Fire19842025
54Yuma County7Biological19652020
55Broomfield County6Biological20032020
56Jackson County6Biological19772020
57Moffat County6Biological19772020
58Phillips County6Biological19652020
59Pitkin County6Biological19772020
60Routt County6Biological19772020
61San Juan County6Biological19702020
62Summit County6Biological19772020
63Chaffee County5Biological20022020
64Lake County5Biological20022020