FEMA Records
4
Low volume
Idaho · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Canyon County, ID
4 FEMA disaster declarations (2005-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Biological.
- 4
- FEMA declarations
- 2
- Major disasters
- 72
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Biological
- Top hazard
The verdict
The declaration register is comparatively quiet for Canyon County. Its 4 federal records sit 52% below the Idaho county mean and above the count for 1% of counties nationally. That historical total does not set the National Risk Index: FEMA's separate loss-and-vulnerability model ranks the county in the riskiest 28%.
- Riskiest 28%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 4
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 29
- 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 16027 · Canyon County 4 declarations · rank 3209/3,266
DECL-LIGHT · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-LOW · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-LOW
- DECL-LIGHT 4
- MAJOR-MID 50%
- RANK-LOWER #3,209
- PHOTO-FINISH Wayne
- NRI-LOW 72
- ACT-LOW Low
- TYPE-LEAD Biological
- VS-ST-LOW -52%
Nearest declaration peer: Wayne, UT (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Idaho state profile
Canyon County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Canyon County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Canyon · this county 4
Canyon · this county
4 declarations
- Majuro · near 4
Majuro · near
4 declarations
- Sweetwater · near 4
Sweetwater · near
4 declarations
- Wayne · near 4
Wayne · near
4 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Canyon County carries 4 FEMA declaration records, ranked 3209 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Canyon County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Canyon County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Canyon County
4 1st percentile higher than 1% 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
Canyon County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Canyon County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $23.8M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Winter Weather carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Very 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 Canyon County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 71.7/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $36.1M in annualized losses), and a Very Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Moderate community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Winter Weather stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 8.3 times per year here, based on 157 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 29 claims and $99.9K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
Start with the state benchmark: a Idaho county averages 8.3 federal declaration records, while Canyon County has 4. The gap is 52% 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.
30 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Canyon County, ID · 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) Low
3/30
4 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.2x national county average)
County Disaster Density Low
6/25
4 declarations (0.5x state county average of 8)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
2 of 4 declarations are major disasters (50%)
Hazard Diversity Moderate
8/20
3 different disaster types declared in Canyon County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Canyon 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
72
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Canyon 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather | Very High | an average of 8.3 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 315 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 4.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 18 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 420 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 11 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 5,000 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 16 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 19 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 17 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 31 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Biological 2
Flood 1
Hurricane 1
What Biological declarations mean here
Biological is the most frequent declaration type on Canyon County's record, 50% of its declarations. In practice this category is dominated by the COVID-19 declarations of 2020, which were issued across every US state and territory rather than in response to any local hazard event.
This has a direct consequence for how Canyon County's number should be read. Because those declarations reached essentially every county in the country, they raise every county's total by a similar amount and tell you nothing about local hazard exposure. A county whose record is led by Biological declarations is, in most cases, a county with a genuinely quiet weather-hazard history, the pandemic records are simply the largest thing in an otherwise short list.
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 - 2 50.0%
of all 4 declarations
Emergency - 2 50.0%
of all 4 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 4 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 4 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4534 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-09 |
| 3467 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4342 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2017-10-07 |
| 3244 | HURRICANE KATRINA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
Storm Events in Idaho
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Canyon County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Snow | 1,495 | 1 | 13 | $100.9M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,087 | 9 | 26 | $3.6M |
| Winter Storm | 492 | 4 | 15 | $1.0M |
| High Wind | 396 | 4 | 6 | $10.6M |
| Winter Weather | 297 | 10 | 15 | $1.7M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
29
Total Paid
$99.9K
Avg Per Claim
$3.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 71.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$36.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Winter Weather Very High
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Drought Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Avalanche 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: Winter Weather
Winter Weather in the model means the accumulation of snow and cold that disrupts rather than destroys: road closures, roof loads, burst pipes and lost heating. Its costs land heavily on transport and on households least able to absorb an interruption.
Worth noting for Canyon County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Winter Weather carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Biological. 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
Canyon County's closest FEMA peer: Bullitt County, KY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Canyon County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Canyon County: NRI composite 71.7 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Canyon County: 2 of 4 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Canyon County shows 4 FEMA declarations, led by Biological.
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 Canyon County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Canyon 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: 71.7 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 4. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
FEMA's National Risk Index flags Winter Weather as the top modeled exposure here (Very High); the guide explains how that model differs from declaration counts.
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 Canyon County?
The most common disaster type in Canyon County is Biological, with 2 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (1), Hurricane (1).
How does Canyon County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Idaho average?
The typical Idaho county has 8.3 FEMA declaration records; Canyon County has 4, or 52% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 81% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Canyon County received?
Canyon County has received 2 major disaster declarations, representing 50% of all 4 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Canyon County filed?
Canyon County has 29 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $99.9K in payments, with an average of $3.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Canyon County?
No. In Canyon County, Winter Weather has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $23.8M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Canyon County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Canyon County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 2005 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Canyon County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Canyon County, Idaho has an overall risk score of 71.7 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Very Low; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $36.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Canyon County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Canyon County as of the latest release is Winter Weather (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Moderate) and Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts winter weather here at an average of 8.3 times per year, drawn from 157 historical events on record. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, 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 Canyon County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Idaho profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events