FEMA Records
31
High volume
Vermont · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Caledonia County, VT
31 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 31
- FEMA declarations
- 26
- Major disasters
- 30
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Caledonia County. Its 31 FEMA declarations are 8% above the Vermont county mean and exceed the count for 88% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 30%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 30%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 31
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 271
- 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 50005 · Caledonia County 31 declarations · rank 368/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 31
- MAJOR-HEAVY 84%
- RANK-MID #368
- PHOTO-FINISH Galveston
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-ABOVE +8%
Nearest declaration peer: Galveston, TX (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Vermont state profile
Caledonia County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Caledonia County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Caledonia · this county 31
Caledonia · this county
31 declarations
- Galveston · near 31
Galveston · near
31 declarations
- Orange · near 31
Orange · near
31 declarations
- Woodward · near 31
Woodward · near
31 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Caledonia County carries 31 FEMA declaration records, ranked 368 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Caledonia County ranks in the national declaration registry
Caledonia County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Caledonia County
31 Top 12% higher than 88% 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
Caledonia County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Caledonia County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $7.8M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Landslide carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low). 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 Caledonia County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 271 paid claims, totaling $6.1M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $22.7K 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. Caledonia County's 31 federal records stand 8% above the Vermont county mean of 28.8. 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
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 30.2/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $10.7M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively Low) and community resilience (Relatively High) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Landslide, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1.1 times per year here.
71 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Caledonia County, VT · 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
22/30
31 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
31 declarations (1.1x state county average of 29)
Major Disaster Share Very High
21/25
26 of 31 declarations are major disasters (84%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Caledonia County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Caledonia 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
84%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
30
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Caledonia 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 22 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 21 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 4.8 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 21 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 880 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0.8 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 65,648 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 20 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 12
Severe Storm 12
Hurricane 3
Biological 2
Tropical Storm 1
Severe Ice Storm 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Caledonia County's record, 39% 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 - 26 83.9%
of all 31 declarations
Emergency - 5 16.1%
of all 31 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3 | |
| 2023 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 2 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 3 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
Show 7 earlier declaration years
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 31 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 31 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4826 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2024-09-26 |
| 4810 | SEVERE STORM, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-08-20 |
| 3609 | TROPICAL DEPRESSION DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-08 |
| 4720 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2023-07-14 |
| 3595 | FLOODING | EM | Flood | 2023-07-10 |
| 3567 | TROPICAL STORM HENRI | EM | Hurricane | 2021-08-22 |
| 4532 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-08 |
| 3437 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4330 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2017-08-16 |
| 4178 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2014-06-11 |
| 4163 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2014-01-29 |
| 4140 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2013-08-02 |
| 4022 | TROPICAL STORM IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-09-01 |
| 3338 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-29 |
| 4001 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-07-08 |
| 1790 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-09-12 |
| 1784 | SEVERE STORMS, A TORNADO, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-08-15 |
| 1715 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-08-03 |
| 1698 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-05-04 |
| 1559 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-09-23 |
Show 11 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1428 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-07-12 |
| 1307 | TROPICAL STORM FLOYD | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-11-10 |
| 1228 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-06-30 |
| 1184 | EXCESSIVE RAINFALL, HIGH WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1997-07-25 |
| 1063 | EXCESSIVE RAINFALL, FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-08-16 |
| 938 | HEAVY RAINS, ICE JAMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1992-03-18 |
| 875 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-07-25 |
| 840 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1989-09-11 |
| 712 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-06-18 |
| 518 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WINDS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1976-08-05 |
| 397 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, & LANDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 1973-07-06 |
Storm Events in Vermont
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Caledonia County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather | 882 | 7 | 0 | $2.8M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 694 | 3 | 4 | $7.1M |
| Winter Storm | 646 | 1 | 0 | $5.0M |
| Strong Wind | 352 | 0 | 0 | $5.7M |
| Flash Flood | 170 | 5 | 1 | $190.0M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
271
Total Paid
$6.1M
Avg Per Claim
$22.7K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 30.2/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$10.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Landslide Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Avalanche Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Hail 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: Landslide
Landslide risk is a function of slope, soil and water, so it is usually a SECOND-ORDER hazard: it is triggered by the rainfall, snowmelt, wildfire burn scars or seismic shaking that came first. That is why a county can carry high landslide exposure whose realized damage is recorded under a flood or storm declaration instead.
Worth noting for Caledonia County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Landslide carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Low), 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
Caledonia County's closest FEMA peer: Ste. Genevieve County, MO
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Caledonia County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Caledonia County shows 31 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Caledonia County: 26 of 31 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Caledonia County: NRI composite 30.2 (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 Caledonia County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Caledonia 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: 30.2 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 31. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Caledonia County's NFIP claims file (271 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 Caledonia County?
The most common disaster type in Caledonia County is Flood, with 12 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (12), Hurricane (3), Biological (2).
How does Caledonia County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Vermont average?
FEMA lists 31 declaration records for Caledonia County. That is 8% above the Vermont county mean of 28.8. Its count is also 50% 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 Caledonia County received?
Caledonia County has received 26 major disaster declarations, representing 84% of all 31 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Caledonia County filed?
Caledonia County has 271 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $6.1M in payments, with an average of $22.7K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Caledonia County?
No. In Caledonia County, Landslide has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $7.8M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Caledonia County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Caledonia County was 2011, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Caledonia County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Caledonia County, Vermont has an overall risk score of 30.2 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Low and community resilience is Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $10.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Caledonia County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Caledonia County is Landslide (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively Low) and Winter Weather (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts landslide here at an average of 1.1 times per year. 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 Caledonia County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Vermont profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events