FEMA Records
24
Above median
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Caldwell County, TX
24 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 24
- FEMA declarations
- 15
- Major disasters
- 80
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Caldwell County. Its 24 FEMA declarations are 15% above the Texas county mean and exceed the count for 66% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 20%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 20%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 24
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 180
- 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 Caldwell County compare?
Caldwell County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
24 Top 34% higher than 66% 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
Caldwell County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Texas county average
What does Caldwell County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 180 paid claims, totaling $7.4M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $40.9K 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. Caldwell County's 24 federal records stand 15% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. 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 79.8/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $33.0M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Riverine Flooding carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 2.6 times per year here, based on 74 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 24 entries for Caldwell County, including 15 Major Disaster records, 15% above the Texas county mean. Across the 52-year span, that works out to 0.5 declarations a year. Fire leads the file with 6 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
65 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Caldwell 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) High
17/30
24 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.2x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
24 declarations (1.1x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
16/25
15 of 24 declarations are major disasters (63%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Caldwell County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Texas Avg
+15%
State avg: 20.9
vs. National Avg
+16%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.5
Over 52 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Caldwell 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
63%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
80
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Caldwell 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.3 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 69 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 11 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 842 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.1 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 51 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 20 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,632 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 14 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
Fire 6
Flood 5
Hurricane 4
Severe Storm 4
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Drought 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Caldwell County's record, 25% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
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 - 15 62.5%
of all 24 declarations
Emergency - 7 29.2%
of all 24 declarations
Fire Management - 2 8.3%
of all 24 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 24 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 24 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4781 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2024-05-17 |
| 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 |
| 4332 | HURRICANE HARVEY | DR | Hurricane | 2017-08-25 |
| 4272 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-06-11 |
| 4245 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-11-25 |
| 4223 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-29 |
| 4159 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-12-20 |
| 4029 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2011-09-09 |
| 3284 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-03-14 |
| 2619 | LOCKHART FIRE | FM | Fire | 2006-01-13 |
| 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 |
| 1425 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2002-07-04 |
| 2336 | TX-MILAM STREET FIRE-9/9/00 | FM | Fire | 2000-09-10 |
| 3142 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARDS | EM | Fire | 1999-09-01 |
Show 4 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1257 | TX-FLOODING 10/18/98 | DR | Flood | 1998-10-21 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 3113 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | EM | Drought | 1993-09-10 |
| 333 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-05-20 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Caldwell 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 NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
180
Total Paid
$7.4M
Avg Per Claim
$40.9K
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 Low
Score: 79.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$33.0M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Wildfire Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Landslide 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: Riverine Flooding
Riverine Flooding is the model's measure of a watershed draining more water than its channel can carry. Unlike flash flooding it usually builds over days and is forecast in advance, which makes it the hazard where warning time most reliably converts into reduced harm.
Worth noting for Caldwell County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Riverine Flooding carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Fire. 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
Caldwell County's closest FEMA peer: Morgan County, AL
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Caldwell County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Caldwell County shows 24 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
Caldwell County: 15 of 24 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Caldwell County: NRI composite 79.8 (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 Caldwell County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Caldwell County's NFIP claims file (180 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 Caldwell County?
The most common disaster type in Caldwell County is Fire, with 6 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (5), Hurricane (4), Severe Storm (4).
How does Caldwell County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
FEMA lists 24 declaration records for Caldwell County. That is 15% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. Its count is also 16% 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 Caldwell County received?
Caldwell County has received 15 major disaster declarations, representing 63% of all 24 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Caldwell County filed?
Caldwell County has 180 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $7.4M in payments, with an average of $40.9K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Caldwell County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Caldwell County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Caldwell County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Caldwell County, Texas has an overall risk score of 79.8 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively High and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $33.0M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Caldwell County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Caldwell County is Riverine Flooding (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Hail (Relatively Moderate) and Drought (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts riverine flooding here at an average of 2.6 times per year, drawn from 74 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 Caldwell County
Caldwell County, TX has 24 federal declaration records, 15% more than the Texas county mean of 21; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 15 of 24 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Texas overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Texas mean and the totals for 66% 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.