FEMA Records
14
Low volume
Wisconsin · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Ashland County, WI
14 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 14
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 32
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Ashland County. Its 14 FEMA declarations are 14% above the Wisconsin county mean and exceed the count for 20% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 32%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 32%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 14
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 11
- 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.
How does Ashland County compare?
Ashland County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
14 20th percentile higher than 20% 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 · 2026-08-03
Ashland County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Wisconsin county average
What does Ashland County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 31.7/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $8.6M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively High) and community resilience (Relatively High) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Cold Wave carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 9 times per year here, based on 79 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 14 entries for Ashland County, including 11 Major Disaster records, 14% above the Wisconsin county mean. Across the 55-year span, that works out to 0.3 declarations a year. Flood leads the file with 5 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 11 claims and $489.3K 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.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Ashland County's 14 federal records stand 14% above the Wisconsin county mean of 12.3. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
59 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Ashland County, WI · 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
10/30
14 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
14 declarations (1.1x state county average of 12)
Major Disaster Share Very High
20/25
11 of 14 declarations are major disasters (79%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Ashland County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Wisconsin Avg
+14%
State avg: 12.3
vs. National Avg
-32%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.3
Over 55 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Ashland 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
79%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
32
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Ashland 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 9 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 31 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 28 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 1.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Drought | Very Low | 3.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 116,310,869 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 26,495 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 7,194 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 5
Severe Storm 4
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Drought 1
Tornado 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Ashland County's record, 36% 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 - 11 78.6%
of all 14 declarations
Emergency - 3 21.4%
of all 14 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 14 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 14 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4520 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3454 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4383 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2018-08-10 |
| 4276 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-08-09 |
| 4141 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-08-08 |
| 4076 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-08-02 |
| 3249 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1369 | FLOODING, SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Flood | 2001-05-11 |
| 1332 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-06-24 |
| 1284 | WI-FLOOD-07/20/99 | DR | Flood | 1999-08-16 |
| 3014 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-06-17 |
| 352 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-09-10 |
| 260 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-05-01 |
| 192 | TORNADOES, SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1965-04-21 |
Storm Events in Wisconsin
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Ashland County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 3,504 | 5 | 23 | $45.0M |
| Hail | 2,620 | 0 | 0 | $57.8M |
| Winter Weather | 1,939 | 43 | 152 | $2.1M |
| Winter Storm | 1,338 | 15 | 86 | $2.3M |
| Flood | 740 | 12 | 4 | $115.6M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
11
Total Paid
$489.3K
Avg Per Claim
$44.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 31.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$8.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Hail Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Drought Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Hurricane 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: Cold Wave
Cold Wave measures exposure to extreme cold rather than to snow. Its harm is concentrated in health effects, burst infrastructure and energy demand spikes, and it falls hardest where the building stock and the grid were not built with sustained cold in mind.
Worth noting for Ashland County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave 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
Ashland County's closest FEMA peer: Taylor County, IA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Ashland County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Ashland County shows 14 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Ashland County: 11 of 14 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Ashland County: NRI composite 31.7 (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 Ashland County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 14 FEMA declarations, Ashland 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Ashland County?
The most common disaster type in Ashland County is Flood, with 5 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (4), Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does Ashland County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Wisconsin average?
FEMA lists 14 declaration records for Ashland County. That is 14% above the Wisconsin county mean of 12.3. Its count is also 32% below the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Ashland County received?
Ashland County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 79% of all 14 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Ashland County filed?
Ashland County has 11 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $489.3K in payments, with an average of $44.5K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Ashland County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Ashland 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 Ashland County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Ashland County, Wisconsin has an overall risk score of 31.7 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively High and community resilience is Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $8.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Ashland County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Ashland County as of the latest release is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Winter Weather (Relatively Moderate) and Lightning (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 9 times per year, drawn from 79 historical events on record. 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.
What this means for Ashland County
Ashland County, WI has 14 federal declaration records, 14% more than the Wisconsin county mean of 12; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 11 of 14 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Wisconsin overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Wisconsin mean and the totals for 20% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- A short NFIP claims file cannot establish low flood exposure; the data guide explains the limits of each federal measure. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.