FEMA Records
15
Below median
California · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Alpine County, CA
15 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 15
- FEMA declarations
- 10
- Major disasters
- 11
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Alpine County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 15 declarations, more than 23% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 47% below the California county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 11%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 11%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 15
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 5
- 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 06003 · Alpine County 15 declarations · rank 2457/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 15
- MAJOR-MID 67%
- RANK-LOWER #2,457
- PHOTO-FINISH Polk
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-BELOW -47%
Nearest declaration peer: Polk, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · California state profile
Alpine County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Alpine County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Alpine · this county 15
Alpine · this county
15 declarations
- Flathead · near 15
Flathead · near
15 declarations
- Murray · near 15
Murray · near
15 declarations
- Polk · near 15
Polk · near
15 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Alpine County carries 15 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2457 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Alpine County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Alpine County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Alpine County
15 23rd percentile higher than 23% 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
Alpine County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Alpine County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's National Risk Index places this county in the low end of the national distribution, composite score 10.6/100 (Very Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $4.8M in annualized losses). Two modifiers shape how that exposure becomes real-world harm here: social vulnerability (Relatively Moderate) and community resilience (Relatively Moderate). Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Avalanche stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 3 years here, based on 10 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 5 claims and $46.0K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
Start with the state benchmark: a California county averages 28.5 federal declaration records, while Alpine County has 15. The gap is 47% 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.
50 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Alpine County, CA · 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) Moderate
11/30
15 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
7/25
15 declarations (0.5x state county average of 29)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
10 of 15 declarations are major disasters (67%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Alpine County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Alpine 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
11
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Alpine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Avalanche | Relatively High | roughly once every 3 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 98 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 26 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 39 times per year |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 1,429 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 9 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 1.3 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 10 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 21 times per year |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 50 years |
| Drought | No Rating | 80 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
Flood 6
Severe Storm 4
Biological 2
Fire 1
Hurricane 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Alpine County's record, 40% of its declarations. Federal flood declarations cover two mechanisms that behave very differently: riverine flooding, which builds over days as a watershed drains and is usually forecast well in advance, and flash flooding, which can arrive in under an hour from rainfall that fell somewhere upstream.
Flood is also the one hazard class where a second federal dataset exists for the same events. The National Flood Insurance Program records what was actually paid on insured losses, so it measures a narrower thing than the declaration count: uninsured damage, and flooding outside mapped special flood hazard areas, never enters it. Reading the two together is more informative than either alone.
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 - 10 66.7%
of all 15 declarations
Emergency - 5 33.3%
of all 15 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 15 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 15 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4699 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-04-03 |
| 3592 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2023-03-10 |
| 4683 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2023-01-14 |
| 3571 | CALDOR FIRE | EM | Fire | 2021-09-01 |
| 4482 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-22 |
| 3428 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4308 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2017-04-01 |
| 1628 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-02-03 |
| 3248 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1155 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUD AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-04 |
| 1046 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING LANDSLIDES, MUD FLOW | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-03-12 |
| 979 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, MUD & LAND SLIDES, & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-02-03 |
| 758 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-02-21 |
| 3023 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-20 |
| 183 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1964-12-24 |
Storm Events in California
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Alpine County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind | 4,070 | 13 | 27 | $228.2M |
| Flood | 3,132 | 26 | 25 | $985.1M |
| Heavy Snow | 1,814 | 6 | 0 | $1.6M |
| Dense Fog | 1,605 | 52 | 148 | $2.8M |
| Drought | 1,421 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
5
Total Paid
$46.0K
Avg Per Claim
$9.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 10.6/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$4.8M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Avalanche Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Lightning Very Low
Hail Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Cold Wave No Rating
Drought No Rating
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: Avalanche
Avalanche is the most geographically restricted hazard in the model, limited to steep terrain holding seasonal snow. Its exposure concentrates on mountain roads, rail corridors and backcountry recreation rather than on the built environment generally.
Worth noting for Alpine County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Avalanche carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Flood. 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
Alpine County's closest FEMA peer: Beaver County, PA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Alpine County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Alpine County shows 15 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Alpine County: 10 of 15 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Alpine County: NRI composite 10.6 (Very Low).
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 Alpine County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Alpine 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: 10.6 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 15. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 15 FEMA declarations, Alpine County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
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 Alpine County?
The most common disaster type in Alpine County is Flood, with 6 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (4), Biological (2), Fire (1).
How does Alpine County's FEMA declaration record compare with the California average?
The typical California county has 28.5 FEMA declaration records; Alpine County has 15, or 47% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 28% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Alpine County received?
Alpine County has received 10 major disaster declarations, representing 67% of all 15 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Alpine County filed?
Alpine County has 5 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $46.0K in payments, with an average of $9.2K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Alpine County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Alpine County was 2023, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Alpine County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Alpine County, California has an overall risk score of 10.6 out of 100 (Very Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Moderate, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $4.8M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Alpine County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Alpine County as of the latest release is Avalanche (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Moderate) and Landslide (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts avalanche here at roughly once every 3 years, drawn from 10 historical events on record. FEMA derives these ratings from historical event frequency, the assets exposed, and the community's vulnerability profile.
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 Alpine County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · California profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events