FEMA Records
15
Below median
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Borden County, TX
15 FEMA disaster declarations (1992-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Ice Storm.
- 15
- FEMA declarations
- 8
- Major disasters
- 6
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Severe Ice Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Borden County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 15 declarations, more than 23% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 28% below the Texas county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 6%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 6%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 15
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 3
- severe ice storm declarations, the most common hazard here
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 48033 · Borden County 15 declarations · rank 2411/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 15
- MAJOR-MID 53%
- RANK-LOWER #2,411
- PHOTO-FINISH Polk
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Ice S…
- VS-ST-BELOW -28%
Nearest declaration peer: Polk, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
Borden County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Borden County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Borden · this county 15
Borden · this county
15 declarations
- Flathead · near 15
Flathead · near
15 declarations
- Murray · near 15
Murray · near
15 declarations
- Polk · near 15
Polk · near
15 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Borden County carries 15 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2411 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Borden County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Borden County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Borden County
15 23rd percentile higher than 23% 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
Borden County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Borden 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 5.7/100 (Very Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $2.7M in annualized losses). Two modifiers shape how that exposure becomes real-world harm here: social vulnerability (Relatively High) and community resilience (Very Low). 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 73 modeled event-days per year here, based on 1,848 historical events on record.
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 Texas county averages 20.9 federal declaration records, while Borden County has 15. The gap is 28% 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.
48 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Borden County, TX · 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
11/30
15 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
9/25
15 declarations (0.7x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
8 of 15 declarations are major disasters (53%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Borden County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Borden 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
53%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
6
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Borden 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 | 73 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 104 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 5 times per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 164 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 5.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 6.6 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 9 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 4,673 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 48 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Ice Storm 3
Severe Storm 3
Fire 3
Hurricane 3
Biological 2
Drought 1
What Severe Ice Storm declarations mean here
Severe Ice Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Borden County's record, 20% of its declarations. Ice storms damage differently from snowstorms: accumulating freezing rain loads power lines and tree limbs until they fail, so the dominant cost is usually infrastructure and extended power loss rather than structural damage to buildings. Outages measured in days, not hours, are the characteristic consequence, which is why these declarations frequently authorise emergency protective measures and debris removal.
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 - 8 53.3%
of all 15 declarations
Emergency - 7 46.7%
of all 15 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 15 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 15 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 4485 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3458 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4255 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-02-09 |
| 3284 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-03-14 |
| 1624 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-11 |
| 1606 | HURRICANE RITA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-09-24 |
| 3261 | HURRICANE RITA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-21 |
| 3216 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-02 |
| 1356 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2001-01-08 |
| 3142 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARDS | EM | Fire | 1999-09-01 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 3113 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | EM | Drought | 1993-09-10 |
| 960 | EXCESSIVE RAIN & HAIL | DR | Severe Storm | 1992-09-09 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Borden County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 14,072 | 0 | 15 | $7.4B |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 10,293 | 41 | 141 | $369.9M |
| Drought | 7,032 | 0 | 0 | $86.0K |
| Flash Flood | 4,728 | 338 | 24 | $47.6B |
| Heat | 4,079 | 119 | 405 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 5.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$2.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Tornado Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Lightning 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 Borden 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 Severe Ice 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
Borden County's closest FEMA peer: Wells County, IN
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Borden County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Borden County shows 15 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Ice Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Borden County: 8 of 15 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Borden County: NRI composite 5.7 (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 Borden County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Borden 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: 5.7 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 15. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 15 FEMA declarations, Borden 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 Borden County?
The most common disaster type in Borden County is Severe Ice Storm, with 3 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (3), Fire (3), Hurricane (3).
How does Borden County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
The typical Texas county has 20.9 FEMA declaration records; Borden County has 15, or 28% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 28% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Borden County received?
Borden County has received 8 major disaster declarations, representing 53% of all 15 disaster declarations.
What was the worst year for disasters in Borden County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Borden County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1992 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Borden County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Borden County, Texas has an overall risk score of 5.7 out of 100 (Very Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $2.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Borden County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Borden County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Low) and Hail (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 73 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 1,848 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.
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 Borden County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events