FEMA Records
27
High volume
North Carolina · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Bladen County, NC
27 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 27
- FEMA declarations
- 13
- Major disasters
- 85
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Bladen County. Its 27 FEMA declarations are 12% above the North Carolina county mean and exceed the count for 78% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 15%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 15%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 27
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 195
- 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.
How does Bladen County compare?
Bladen County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
27 Top 22% higher than 78% 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
Bladen County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the North Carolina county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Bladen County is led by Hurricane (about $22.0M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), while Strong Wind 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 Bladen County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 195 paid claims, totaling $9.2M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $47.0K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Bladen County's 27 federal records stand 12% above the North Carolina county mean of 24.0. 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 84.6/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $38.6M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Relatively Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Strong Wind stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 2.4 times per year here, based on 90 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 27 entries for Bladen County, including 13 Major Disaster records, 12% above the North Carolina county mean. Across the 49-year span, that works out to 0.6 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 19 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
64 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Bladen County, NC · 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
20/30
27 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
27 declarations (1.1x state county average of 24)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
12/25
13 of 27 declarations are major disasters (48%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Bladen County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. North Carolina Avg
+12%
State avg: 24.0
vs. National Avg
+30%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.6
Over 49 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Bladen 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
48%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
85
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Bladen 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 2.4 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 3 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 523 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.4 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 540 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 8.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 55 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 3.5 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 9.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 83 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 19
Tropical Storm 2
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Fire 1
Severe Storm 1
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Bladen County's federal record, 70% 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).
Emergency - 13 48.1%
of all 27 declarations
Major Disaster - 13 48.1%
of all 27 declarations
Fire Management - 1 3.7%
of all 27 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 3 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
Show 1 earlier declaration years
| 1977 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 27 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 27 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3637 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 3617 | HURRICANE HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-26 |
| 3608 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-06 |
| 3586 | HURRICANE IAN | EM | Hurricane | 2022-10-01 |
| 3534 | HURRICANE ISAIAS | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-02 |
| 4487 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3471 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4465 | HURRICANE DORIAN | DR | Hurricane | 2019-10-04 |
| 3423 | HURRICANE DORIAN | EM | Hurricane | 2019-09-03 |
| 4393 | HURRICANE FLORENCE | DR | Hurricane | 2018-09-14 |
| 3401 | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM | Hurricane | 2018-09-10 |
| 4285 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | DR | Hurricane | 2016-10-10 |
| 3380 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | EM | Hurricane | 2016-10-07 |
| 4019 | HURRICANE IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-08-31 |
| 2936 | SIMMONS ROAD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2011-07-04 |
| 1969 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-04-19 |
| 3254 | HURRICANE OPHELIA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-14 |
| 3222 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1546 | TROPICAL STORM FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-10 |
| 1490 | HURRICANE ISABEL | DR | Hurricane | 2003-09-18 |
Show 7 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1292 | HURRICANE FLOYD MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS | DR | Hurricane | 1999-09-16 |
| 3146 | HURRICANE FLOYD EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS | EM | Hurricane | 1999-09-15 |
| 1240 | HURRICANE BONNIE | DR | Hurricane | 1998-08-27 |
| 1134 | HURRICANE FRAN | DR | Hurricane | 1996-09-06 |
| 1127 | HURRICANE BERTHA | DR | Hurricane | 1996-07-18 |
| 724 | HURRICANE DIANA | DR | Hurricane | 1984-09-21 |
| 3049 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-08-11 |
Storm Events in North Carolina
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Bladen County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 7,123 | 11 | 60 | $62.9M |
| Flash Flood | 1,881 | 105 | 6 | $2.3B |
| Hail | 1,623 | 0 | 0 | $122.5M |
| Winter Weather | 1,272 | 6 | 2 | $425.0K |
| Winter Storm | 743 | 7 | 0 | $10.7M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
195
Total Paid
$9.2M
Avg Per Claim
$47.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 84.6/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$38.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Strong Wind Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Coastal Flooding Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Strong Wind
Strong Wind covers damaging non-thunderstorm, non-tornadic wind, the kind produced by steep pressure gradients and downslope events. It is a broad, frequent, low-drama hazard: roofs, signage, power lines and high-profile vehicles, spread across a wide area rather than concentrated on a path.
Worth noting for Bladen County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Strong Wind carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. 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
Bladen County's closest FEMA peer: Erie County, NY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Bladen County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Bladen County shows 27 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Bladen County: 13 of 27 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Bladen County: NRI composite 84.6 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Bladen County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Bladen County's NFIP claims file (195 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Bladen County?
The most common disaster type in Bladen County is Hurricane, with 19 declarations. Other disaster types include Tropical Storm (2), Biological (2), Winter Storm (1).
How does Bladen County's FEMA declaration record compare with the North Carolina average?
FEMA lists 27 declaration records for Bladen County. That is 12% above the North Carolina county mean of 24.0. Its count is also 30% 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 Bladen County received?
Bladen County has received 13 major disaster declarations, representing 48% of all 27 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Bladen County filed?
Bladen County has 195 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $9.2M in payments, with an average of $47.0K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Bladen County?
No. In Bladen County, Strong Wind has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Hurricane leads Expected Annual Loss at about $22.0M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Bladen County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Bladen County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Bladen County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Bladen County, North Carolina has an overall risk score of 84.6 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively High and community resilience is Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $38.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Bladen County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Bladen County is Strong Wind (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively High) and Wildfire (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts strong wind here at an average of 2.4 times per year, drawn from 90 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.
What this means for Bladen County
Bladen County, NC has 27 federal declaration records, 12% more than the North Carolina county mean of 24; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, emergency leads with 13 of 27 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. North Carolina overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the North Carolina mean and the totals for 78% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- Use the data guide to separate this mid-volume insurance-claims file from declaration counts and modeled NRI risk. 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.