FEMA Records
19
Below median
Virginia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Bedford (city), VA
19 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2026). Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 19
- FEMA declarations
- 13
- Major disasters
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 51515 · Bedford (city) 19 declarations · rank 1885/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-UNK · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 19
- MAJOR-MID 68%
- RANK-LOWER #1,885
- PHOTO-FINISH Bartow
- NRI-UNK NRI n/a
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -7%
Nearest declaration peer: Bartow, GA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Virginia state profile
Bedford (city) in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Bedford (city) and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Bartow · near 19
Bartow · near
19 declarations
- Bedford (city) · this county 19
Bedford (city) · this county
19 declarations
- Union · near 19
Union · near
19 declarations
- Warren · near 19
Warren · near
19 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Bedford (city) carries 19 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1885 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Bedford (city)'s FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Bedford (city) vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Bedford (city)
19 41st percentile higher than 41% 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
What does Bedford (city)'s hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
No paid-claim row for this county appears in the NFIP county table used by PlainHazard. That absence is not evidence that flooding never occurred: the register observes claims under federal flood-insurance policies, not uninsured losses, emergency reports, or every flood outside the program. The FEMA declaration history below is therefore the available federal-action record on this page.
Start with the state benchmark: a Virginia county averages 20.4 federal declaration records, while Bedford (city) has 19. The gap is 7% 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.
58 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Bedford (city), 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) Moderate
14/30
19 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
19 declarations (0.9x state county average of 20)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
13 of 19 declarations are major disasters (68%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Bedford (city)
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Bedford (city)
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
County FIPS
51515
VA state code
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 5
Severe Storm 4
Flood 4
Snowstorm 3
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Bedford (city)'s federal record, 26% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
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 - 13 68.4%
of all 19 declarations
Emergency - 6 31.6%
of all 19 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 2 | |
Show 1 earlier declaration years
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 19 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 19 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 |
| 4644 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2022-03-11 |
| 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 |
| 3240 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-12 |
| 1491 | HURRICANE ISABEL | DR | Hurricane | 2003-09-18 |
| 1411 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-05-05 |
| 1135 | HURRICANE FRAN AND ASSOCIATED SEVERE STORM COND | DR | Hurricane | 1996-09-06 |
| 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 |
| 359 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-10-10 |
| 358 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-10-07 |
| 339 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
Storm Events in Virginia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Bedford (city).
| 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
Data-matched county comparisons
Bedford (city)'s closest FEMA peer: Cumberland County, PA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields for Bedford (city). Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Bedford (city) shows 19 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Bedford (city): 13 of 19 of its declarations are Major.
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 Bedford (city) - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Bedford (city): 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 declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 19. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 19 FEMA declarations, Bedford (city) 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 Bedford (city)?
The most common disaster type in Bedford (city) is Hurricane, with 5 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (4), Flood (4), Snowstorm (3).
How does Bedford (city)'s FEMA declaration record compare with the Virginia average?
The typical Virginia county has 20.4 FEMA declaration records; Bedford (city) has 19, or 7% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 8% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Bedford (city) received?
Bedford (city) has received 13 major disaster declarations, representing 68% of all 19 disaster declarations.
What was the worst year for disasters in Bedford (city)?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Bedford (city) was 1973, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2026.
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.
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 Bedford (city) · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Virginia profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events