FEMA Records
20
Above median
New York · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Bronx County, NY
20 FEMA disaster declarations (1971-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 20
- FEMA declarations
- 10
- Major disasters
- 98
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Bronx County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 20 declarations, more than 46% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 18% below the New York county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 2%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 2%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 20
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,945
- 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 36005 · Bronx County 20 declarations · rank 1651/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 20
- MAJOR-MID 50%
- RANK-LOWER #1,651
- PHOTO-FINISH Monona
- NRI-HIGH 98
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -18%
Nearest declaration peer: Monona, IA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · New York state profile
Bronx County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Bronx County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Bronx · this county 20
Bronx · 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 Bronx County carries 20 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1651 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Bronx County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Bronx County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Bronx 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
Bronx County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Bronx County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $100.5M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Heat Wave 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 Bronx County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,945 claims and $27.4M 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 $14.1K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
Start with the state benchmark: a New York county averages 24.5 federal declaration records, while Bronx County has 20. The gap is 18% 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 98.3/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $212.2M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Heat Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 11 modeled event-days per year here, based on 153 historical events on record.
55 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Bronx County, NY · 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 Moderate
10/25
20 declarations (0.8x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
10 of 20 declarations are major disasters (50%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Bronx County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Bronx 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
50%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
98
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Bronx 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heat Wave | Relatively High | 11 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Very High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Strong Wind | Very High | an average of 5.4 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very High | an average of 10 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 2 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 532 years |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 6 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 31 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 5.9 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 56 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 70 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 7,909 years |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.8 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 8
Snowstorm 3
Biological 2
Severe Storm 2
Other 2
Flood 2
Fire 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Bronx County's federal record, 40% 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 - 10 50.0%
of all 20 declarations
Emergency - 10 50.0%
of all 20 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2013 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 3 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4615 | REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IDA | DR | Hurricane | 2021-09-05 |
| 3572 | REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IDA | EM | Hurricane | 2021-09-02 |
| 3565 | HURRICANE HENRI | EM | Hurricane | 2021-08-22 |
| 4480 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-20 |
| 3434 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4085 | HURRICANE SANDY | DR | Hurricane | 2012-10-30 |
| 3351 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 4020 | HURRICANE IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-08-31 |
| 3328 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-26 |
| 1957 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-02-18 |
| 3262 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-30 |
| 1534 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-08-03 |
| 3186 | POWER OUTAGE | EM | Other | 2003-08-23 |
| 3184 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2003-03-27 |
| 1391 | FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS | DR | Fire | 2001-09-11 |
| 3155 | WEST NILE VIRUS | EM | Other | 2000-10-11 |
| 1083 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-12 |
| 3107 | SEVERE BLIZZARD | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 702 | COASTAL STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-04-17 |
| 311 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1971-09-13 |
Storm Events in New York
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Bronx County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 8,295 | 6 | 45 | $45.0M |
| Winter Weather | 2,261 | 7 | 17 | $705.5K |
| Flash Flood | 1,775 | 23 | 3 | $674.3M |
| Strong Wind | 1,399 | 2 | 12 | $9.2M |
| Winter Storm | 1,228 | 13 | 2 | $4.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1,945
Total Paid
$27.4M
Avg Per Claim
$14.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 98.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$212.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Heat Wave Relatively High
Cold Wave Very High
Strong Wind Very High
Winter Weather Very High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively High
Coastal Flooding Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Drought No Rating
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: Heat Wave
Heat Wave is measured in event-days per year rather than discrete events, and it is the hazard whose harm is most consistently undercounted: its toll is health and mortality, concentrated among people without cooling, rather than visible damage to property.
Worth noting for Bronx County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Heat Wave 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
Bronx County's closest FEMA peer: Howard County, TX
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Bronx County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Bronx County shows 20 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Bronx County: 10 of 20 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Bronx County: NRI composite 98.3 (Relatively High).
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 Bronx County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Bronx 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: 98.3 (Relatively High).
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
Bronx County's NFIP claims file (1,945 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 Bronx County?
The most common disaster type in Bronx County is Hurricane, with 8 declarations. Other disaster types include Snowstorm (3), Biological (2), Severe Storm (2).
How does Bronx County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New York average?
The typical New York county has 24.5 FEMA declaration records; Bronx County has 20, or 18% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 3% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Bronx County received?
Bronx County has received 10 major disaster declarations, representing 50% of all 20 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Bronx County filed?
Bronx County has 1,945 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $27.4M in payments, with an average of $14.1K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Bronx County?
No. In Bronx County, Heat Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $100.5M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Bronx County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Bronx County was 2011, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1971 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Bronx County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Bronx County, New York has an overall risk score of 98.3 out of 100 (Relatively High). Social vulnerability here rates Very High, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $212.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Bronx County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Bronx County is Heat Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Very High) and Strong Wind (Very High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts heat wave here at 11 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 153 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.
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 Bronx County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · New York profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events