FEMA Records
8
Low volume
Colorado · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Archuleta County, CO
8 FEMA disaster declarations (1970-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 8
- FEMA declarations
- 4
- Major disasters
- 34
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Start with the local benchmark for Archuleta County: 8 FEMA declaration records are 22% below the Colorado county mean, even though the count is higher than 6% 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 safer than 34%.
- Safer than 34%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 8
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 10
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Fire Management Assistance (FM) records, which are not presidential disaster declarations, alongside Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 08007 · Archuleta County 8 declarations · rank 3054/3,266
DECL-LIGHT · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-MODERATE · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-LIGHT 8
- MAJOR-MID 50%
- RANK-LOWER #3,054
- PHOTO-FINISH Marion
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-MODERATE Moderate
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-BELOW -22%
Nearest declaration peer: Marion, IL (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Colorado state profile
Archuleta County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Archuleta County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Archuleta · this county 8
Archuleta · this county
8 declarations
- Kane · near 8
Kane · near
8 declarations
- Marion · near 8
Marion · near
8 declarations
- Mesa · near 8
Mesa · near
8 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Archuleta County carries 8 FEMA declaration records, ranked 3054 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Archuleta County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Archuleta County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Archuleta County
8 6th percentile higher than 6% 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
Archuleta County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Archuleta County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $5.2M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Wildfire carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 Archuleta County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 34.5/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $8.3M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively High) and community resilience (Relatively Low) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Wildfire carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 306 years here.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 10 claims and $122.7K 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 Colorado county averages 10.2 federal declaration records, while Archuleta County has 8. The gap is 22% 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.
42 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Archuleta County, CO · 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
6/30
8 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.4x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
10/25
8 declarations (0.8x state county average of 10)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
4 of 8 declarations are major disasters (50%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Archuleta County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Archuleta 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
50%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
34
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Archuleta 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 306 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Avalanche | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 35 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 71 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 643 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 76 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 19 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 14 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 54,786 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 2
Biological 2
Flood 2
Coastal Storm 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Archuleta County's record, 25% 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 - 4 50.0%
of all 8 declarations
Emergency - 3 37.5%
of all 8 declarations
Fire Management - 1 12.5%
of all 8 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1970 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 8 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 8 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5606 | OAK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-08-11 |
| 4498 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-28 |
| 3436 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3224 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-05 |
| 1421 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2002-06-19 |
| 3025 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-29 |
| 396 | FLOODING & LANDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 1973-07-06 |
| 293 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1970-09-22 |
Storm Events in Colorado
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Archuleta County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 4,913 | 0 | 100 | $2.9B |
| Winter Weather | 2,620 | 3 | 23 | $22.5K |
| High Wind | 1,992 | 5 | 6 | $20.9M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,741 | 2 | 11 | $5.4M |
| Winter Storm | 1,497 | 0 | 0 | $848.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
10
Total Paid
$122.7K
Avg Per Claim
$12.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 34.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$8.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Moderate
Avalanche Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Drought Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Hail Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Cold Wave 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: Wildfire
Wildfire risk in the model reflects fuel, terrain, weather and how much development sits in the wildland-urban interface. It is one of the few hazards where the exposure is materially changed by land management and building choices, not only by where the county happens to be.
Worth noting for Archuleta County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Wildfire carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), 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
Archuleta County's closest FEMA peer: Ontonagon County, MI
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Archuleta County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Archuleta County shows 8 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Archuleta County: 4 of 8 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Archuleta County: NRI composite 34.5 (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 Archuleta County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Archuleta 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: 34.5 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 8. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
FEMA's National Risk Index flags Wildfire as the top modeled exposure here (Relatively Moderate); the guide explains how that model differs from declaration counts.
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 Archuleta County?
The most common disaster type in Archuleta County is Flood, with 2 declarations. Other disaster types include Fire (2), Biological (2), Coastal Storm (1).
How does Archuleta County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Colorado average?
The typical Colorado county has 10.2 FEMA declaration records; Archuleta County has 8, or 22% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 61% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Archuleta County received?
Archuleta County has received 4 major disaster declarations, representing 50% of all 8 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Archuleta County filed?
Archuleta County has 10 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $122.7K in payments, with an average of $12.3K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Archuleta County?
No. In Archuleta County, Wildfire has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $5.2M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Archuleta County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Archuleta County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1970 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Archuleta County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Archuleta County, Colorado has an overall risk score of 34.5 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively High and community resilience is Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $8.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Archuleta County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Archuleta County as of the latest release is Wildfire (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Landslide (Relatively Moderate) and Avalanche (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts wildfire here at roughly once every 306 years. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against 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 Archuleta County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Colorado profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events