Jim B.,
Both the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County have interactive FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) information available online:
Here is a print of the map that covers the Nob Hill Neighborhood (35MB):
The upshot is that Nob Hill is mostly high & dry (we are a "Hill", after all). The flood mapping shows that the 100-year flood (i.e. the flood having a 1% recurrence chance in any given year) will flood a few streets in spot locations. The most notable is the historic Campus Wash that runs through our neighborhood from Zuni & Washington toward Morningside Park, across Central at the dip near Hermosa/Solano, then along Campus Avenue to the big inlet into the North Diversion Channel at Campus & Girard. The 100-year flood is mostly contained in the street, but the map shows that a few properties near Silver & Aliso are impacted. The rest of the neighborhood including Lomas & Solano is "Zone X", areas outside the 100-year flood, but which may be impacted by the 500-year (0.2% recurrence) flood.
So the question is what would be your losses if a >500-year storm hit and you got up to a foot of water in your house? Maybe $30K in damaged furniture, possessions, carpet, drywall, etc.? Multiply that by the annual risk 0.2% = $60 of "risk" per year. Does anyone offer a flood insurance policy for just $60 per year?
Note that our risk of a damaging earthquake in Central New Mexico is also in the ballpark of around 0.2% per year. In a single-story wood frame house, you might lose your dishes, but if you're in an older adobe house you might be more concerned.
Good luck.
`jimb
