FEMA Records
20
Above median
Iowa · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Black Hawk County, IA
20 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 20
- FEMA declarations
- 18
- Major disasters
- 77
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Black Hawk County. Its 20 FEMA declarations are 4% above the Iowa county mean and exceed the count for 46% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 23%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 23%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 20
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,472
- 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 19013 · Black Hawk County 20 declarations · rank 1690/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 20
- MAJOR-HEAVY 90%
- RANK-LOWER #1,690
- PHOTO-FINISH Monona
- NRI-LOW 77
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-ABOVE +4%
Nearest declaration peer: Monona, IA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Iowa state profile
Black Hawk County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Black Hawk County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Black Hawk · this county 20
Black Hawk · this county
20 declarations
- Cleveland · near 20
Cleveland · near
20 declarations
- Monona · near 20
Monona · near
20 declarations
- Tallapoosa · near 20
Tallapoosa · near
20 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Black Hawk County carries 20 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1690 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Black Hawk County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Black Hawk County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Black Hawk County
20 46th percentile higher than 46% 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
Black Hawk County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Black Hawk County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $19.7M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Drought carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High). 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 Black Hawk County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,472 claims and $27.3M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $18.6K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Black Hawk County's 20 federal records stand 4% above the Iowa county mean of 19.3. 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 76.6/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $41.8M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Drought stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 16 modeled event-days per year here, based on 462 historical events on record.
60 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Black Hawk County, IA · 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
20 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
20 declarations (1.0x state county average of 19)
Major Disaster Share Very High
23/25
18 of 20 declarations are major disasters (90%)
Hazard Diversity High
10/20
4 different disaster types declared in Black Hawk County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Black Hawk 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
90%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
77
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Black Hawk 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drought | Relatively High | 16 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 5.3 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 18 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 5 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.5 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 8.7 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 42 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 3.9 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,608 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 5,424 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 16 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 9
Severe Storm 8
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Black Hawk County's record, 45% 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 - 18 90.0%
of all 20 declarations
Emergency - 2 10.0%
of all 20 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 2 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1968 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 20 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 20 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4483 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-23 |
| 3480 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4289 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-10-31 |
| 4187 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-08-05 |
| 1930 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-07-29 |
| 1854 | SEVERE STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-08-13 |
| 1763 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-05-27 |
| 1688 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-03-14 |
| 3239 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1518 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-05-25 |
| 1282 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-07-22 |
| 1277 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-05-21 |
| 1230 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1998-07-02 |
| 996 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-07-09 |
| 986 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-04-26 |
| 911 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1991-07-12 |
| 879 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-09-06 |
| 269 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-08-14 |
| 248 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1968-08-04 |
| 193 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1965-04-22 |
Storm Events in Iowa
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Black Hawk County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 4,928 | 6 | 227 | $40.5M |
| Hail | 3,736 | 0 | 0 | $4.3M |
| Heavy Rain | 2,394 | 0 | 0 | $292.0K |
| Drought | 1,556 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 1,543 | 3 | 4 | $2.8M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1,472
Total Paid
$27.3M
Avg Per Claim
$18.6K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 76.6/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$41.8M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Tornado Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Hurricane 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: Drought
Drought is the slowest of the modeled hazards and the least visible: it does its damage to agriculture, water supply and soil over seasons rather than hours, so it rarely produces the kind of single-day damage that drives a disaster declaration. FEMA scores it in event-days per year rather than discrete events for exactly that reason.
Worth noting for Black Hawk County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought 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
Black Hawk County's closest FEMA peer: Greeley County, NE
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Black Hawk County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Black Hawk County shows 20 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Black Hawk County: 18 of 20 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Black Hawk County: NRI composite 76.6 (Relatively 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 Black Hawk County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Black Hawk 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: 76.6 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 20. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Black Hawk County's NFIP claims file (1,472 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
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 Black Hawk County?
The most common disaster type in Black Hawk County is Flood, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (8), Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does Black Hawk County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Iowa average?
FEMA lists 20 declaration records for Black Hawk County. That is 4% above the Iowa county mean of 19.3. Its count is also 3% 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 Black Hawk County received?
Black Hawk County has received 18 major disaster declarations, representing 90% of all 20 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Black Hawk County filed?
Black Hawk County has 1,472 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $27.3M in payments, with an average of $18.6K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Black Hawk County?
No. In Black Hawk County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $19.7M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Black Hawk County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Black Hawk County was 1993, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Black Hawk County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Black Hawk County, Iowa has an overall risk score of 76.6 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Low and community resilience is Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $41.8M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Black Hawk County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Black Hawk County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Strong Wind (Relatively High) and Winter Weather (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 16 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 462 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 Black Hawk County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Iowa profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events