FEMA Records
22
Above median
Virginia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Bath County, VA
22 FEMA disaster declarations (1969-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 22
- FEMA declarations
- 15
- Major disasters
- 5
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Bath County. Its 22 FEMA declarations are 8% above the Virginia county mean and exceed the count for 57% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 5%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 5%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 22
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 16
- 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 51017 · Bath County 22 declarations · rank 1377/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 22
- MAJOR-MID 68%
- RANK-LOWER #1,377
- PHOTO-FINISH Hardy
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +8%
Nearest declaration peer: Hardy, WV (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Virginia state profile
Bath County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Bath County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Bath · this county 22
Bath · this county
22 declarations
- Hardy · near 22
Hardy · near
22 declarations
- Prairie · near 22
Prairie · near
22 declarations
- St. Francis · near 22
St. Francis · near
22 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Bath County carries 22 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1377 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Bath County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Bath County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Bath County
22 Top 43% higher than 57% 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
Bath County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Bath County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $1.8M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Landslide carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low). 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 Bath 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 5.4/100 (Very Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $2.9M in annualized losses). Two modifiers shape how that exposure becomes real-world harm here: social vulnerability (Relatively Moderate) and community resilience (Relatively High). Even the county's top-rated hazard, Landslide, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1.3 times per year here.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 16 claims and $144.1K 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. Bath County's 22 federal records stand 8% above the Virginia county mean of 20.4. 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.
64 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Bath County, VA · 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) High
16/30
22 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
22 declarations (1.1x state county average of 20)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
15 of 22 declarations are major disasters (68%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Bath County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Bath 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
68%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
5
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Bath 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Low | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 41 times per year |
| Avalanche | Relatively Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 38 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | an average of 5.6 times per year |
| Drought | Very Low | 2.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,236 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 924 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 15 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 2.3 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 20 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0 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
Hurricane 5
Severe Storm 5
Snowstorm 4
Flood 4
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Drought 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Bath County's record, 23% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
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 - 15 68.2%
of all 22 declarations
Emergency - 7 31.8%
of all 22 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 3 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
Show 4 earlier declaration years
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 22 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 22 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3631 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-23 |
| 4512 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-02 |
| 3448 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3403 | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM | Hurricane | 2018-09-11 |
| 3359 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-29 |
| 4072 | SEVERE STORMS AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-07-27 |
| 1874 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-02-16 |
| 1655 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-07-13 |
| 3240 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-12 |
| 1386 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-07-12 |
| 1318 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-02-28 |
| 1135 | HURRICANE FRAN AND ASSOCIATED SEVERE STORM COND | DR | Hurricane | 1996-09-06 |
| 1098 | FLOODING, HIGH WINDS, AND WIND DRIVEN RAIN | DR | Flood | 1996-01-27 |
| 1086 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-13 |
| 1059 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-07-01 |
| 1014 | SEVERE ICE STORMS, FLOODING | DR | Snowstorm | 1994-03-10 |
| 3112 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-25 |
| 944 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1992-05-19 |
| 755 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1985-11-09 |
| 3046 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-07-23 |
Show 2 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 339 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
| 274 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Hurricane | 1969-08-23 |
Storm Events in Virginia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Bath County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 8,940 | 13 | 31 | $123.1M |
| Flood | 2,300 | 4 | 0 | $85.1M |
| Winter Weather | 2,049 | 6 | 32 | $902.0K |
| Flash Flood | 1,942 | 13 | 4 | $244.2M |
| Heavy Rain | 1,566 | 0 | 0 | $2.5M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
16
Total Paid
$144.1K
Avg Per Claim
$9.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 5.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$2.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Landslide Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Avalanche Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Drought Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Hail Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Heat 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: Landslide
Landslide risk is a function of slope, soil and water, so it is usually a SECOND-ORDER hazard: it is triggered by the rainfall, snowmelt, wildfire burn scars or seismic shaking that came first. That is why a county can carry high landslide exposure whose realized damage is recorded under a flood or storm declaration instead.
Worth noting for Bath County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Landslide carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Low), while the county's declaration history is led by Severe Storm. 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
Bath County's closest FEMA peer: Burleson County, TX
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Bath County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Bath County shows 22 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Bath County: 15 of 22 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Bath County: NRI composite 5.4 (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 Bath County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Bath 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: 5.4 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 22. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 22 FEMA declarations, Bath 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 Bath County?
The most common disaster type in Bath County is Severe Storm, with 5 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (5), Snowstorm (4), Flood (4).
How does Bath County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Virginia average?
FEMA lists 22 declaration records for Bath County. That is 8% above the Virginia county mean of 20.4. Its count is also 6% above 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 Bath County received?
Bath County has received 15 major disaster declarations, representing 68% of all 22 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Bath County filed?
Bath County has 16 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $144.1K in payments, with an average of $9.0K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Bath County?
No. In Bath County, Landslide has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $1.8M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Bath County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Bath County was 1996, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1969 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Bath County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Bath County, Virginia has an overall risk score of 5.4 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $2.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Bath County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Bath County is Landslide (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Relatively Moderate) and Avalanche (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts landslide here at an average of 1.3 times per year. 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 Bath County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Virginia profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events