FEMA Records
6
Low volume
Idaho · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Ada County, ID
6 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Biological.
- 6
- FEMA declarations
- 4
- Major disasters
- 88
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Biological
- Top hazard
The verdict
Start with the local benchmark for Ada County: 6 FEMA declaration records are 28% below the Idaho county mean, even though the count is higher than 3% of counties in the national registry. On FEMA's distinct National Risk Index model, which combines expected loss with vulnerability and resilience, the county ranks in the riskiest 12%.
- Riskiest 12%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 6
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 133
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 16001 · Ada County 6 declarations · rank 3155/3,266
DECL-LIGHT · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-MODERATE · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-LIGHT 6
- MAJOR-MID 67%
- RANK-LOWER #3,155
- PHOTO-FINISH Summit
- NRI-MID 88
- ACT-MODERATE Moderate
- TYPE-LEAD Biological
- VS-ST-BELOW -28%
Nearest declaration peer: Summit, CO (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Idaho state profile
Ada County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Ada County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Ada · this county 6
Ada · this county
6 declarations
- Lake · near 6
Lake · near
6 declarations
- Lander · near 6
Lander · near
6 declarations
- Summit · near 6
Summit · near
6 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Ada County carries 6 FEMA declaration records, ranked 3155 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Ada County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Ada County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Ada County
6 3rd percentile higher than 3% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Ada County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Ada County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $63.0M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Winter Weather carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Ada County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 133 paid claims, totaling $498.9K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $3.8K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Idaho county averages 8.3 federal declaration records, while Ada County has 6. The gap is 28% below that mean. Fewer entries indicate a quieter history of recorded federal actions, not immunity from a hazard and not a prediction about what happens next.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 87.8/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $115.6M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very Low and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Winter Weather stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 8.9 times per year here, based on 168 historical events on record.
40 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Ada County, ID · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) Low
4/30
6 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
9/25
6 declarations (0.7x state county average of 8)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
4 of 6 declarations are major disasters (67%)
Hazard Diversity High
10/20
4 different disaster types declared in Ada County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Ada County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
67%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
88
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Ada County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather | Very High | an average of 8.9 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 87 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 4.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | roughly once every 3 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 20 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 402 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 10 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 5,000 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 9 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 18 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 14 modeled event-days per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Biological 2
Flood 2
Hurricane 1
Fire 1
What Biological declarations mean here
Biological is the most frequent declaration type on Ada County's record, 33% of its declarations. In practice this category is dominated by the COVID-19 declarations of 2020, which were issued across every US state and territory rather than in response to any local hazard event.
This has a direct consequence for how Ada County's number should be read. Because those declarations reached essentially every county in the country, they raise every county's total by a similar amount and tell you nothing about local hazard exposure. A county whose record is led by Biological declarations is, in most cases, a county with a genuinely quiet weather-hazard history, the pandemic records are simply the largest thing in an otherwise short list.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 4 66.7%
of all 6 declarations
Emergency - 2 33.3%
of all 6 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 6 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 6 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4534 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-09 |
| 3467 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4342 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2017-10-07 |
| 3244 | HURRICANE KATRINA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1341 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2000-09-01 |
| 186 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1964-12-31 |
Storm Events in Idaho
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Ada County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Snow | 1,495 | 1 | 13 | $100.9M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,087 | 9 | 26 | $3.6M |
| Winter Storm | 492 | 4 | 15 | $1.0M |
| High Wind | 396 | 4 | 6 | $10.6M |
| Winter Weather | 297 | 10 | 15 | $1.7M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
133
Total Paid
$498.9K
Avg Per Claim
$3.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 87.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$115.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Winter Weather Very High
Wildfire Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Landslide Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Drought Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Winter Weather
Winter Weather in the model means the accumulation of snow and cold that disrupts rather than destroys: road closures, roof loads, burst pipes and lost heating. Its costs land heavily on transport and on households least able to absorb an interruption.
Worth noting for Ada County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Winter Weather carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Biological. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Ada County's closest FEMA peer: Orangeburg County, SC
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Ada County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Ada County: NRI composite 87.8 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar Major-disaster share
Ada County: 4 of 6 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Ada County shows 6 FEMA declarations, led by Biological.
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Ada County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Ada County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 87.8 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 6. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Ada County's NFIP claims file (133 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Ada County?
The most common disaster type in Ada County is Biological, with 2 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (2), Hurricane (1), Fire (1).
How does Ada County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Idaho average?
The typical Idaho county has 8.3 FEMA declaration records; Ada County has 6, or 28% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 71% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Ada County received?
Ada County has received 4 major disaster declarations, representing 67% of all 6 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Ada County filed?
Ada County has 133 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $498.9K in payments, with an average of $3.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Ada County?
No. In Ada County, Winter Weather has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $63.0M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Ada County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Ada County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Ada County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Ada County, Idaho has an overall risk score of 87.8 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Very Low, while community resilience comes in at Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $115.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Ada County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Ada County is Winter Weather (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively High) and Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts winter weather here at an average of 8.9 times per year, drawn from 168 historical events on record. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, exposed assets, and community vulnerability.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Ada County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Idaho profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events