FEMA Records
21
Above median
Maryland · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Caroline County, MD
21 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Snowstorm.
- 21
- FEMA declarations
- 14
- Major disasters
- 46
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Snowstorm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Caroline County. Its 21 FEMA declarations are 7% above the Maryland county mean and exceed the count for 52% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 46%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 46%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 21
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 77
- 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 24011 · Caroline County 21 declarations · rank 1504/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 21
- MAJOR-MID 67%
- RANK-LOWER #1,504
- PHOTO-FINISH Montgomery
- NRI-LOW 46
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Snowstorm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +7%
Nearest declaration peer: Montgomery, IN (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Maryland state profile
Caroline County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Caroline County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Atascosa · near 21
Atascosa · near
21 declarations
- Caroline · this county 21
Caroline · this county
21 declarations
- Mason · near 21
Mason · near
21 declarations
- Montgomery · near 21
Montgomery · near
21 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Caroline County carries 21 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1504 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Caroline County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Caroline County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Caroline County
21 Top 48% higher than 52% 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
Caroline County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Caroline County is led by Hurricane (about $4.8M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Drought 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 Caroline County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 77 paid claims, totaling $1.4M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $17.9K 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. Caroline County's 21 federal records stand 7% above the Maryland county mean of 19.6. 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 45.7/100 for this county (Relatively Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $12.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively Moderate) and community resilience (Relatively Moderate) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. 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 4.2 modeled event-days per year here, based on 154 historical events on record.
60 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Caroline County, MD · 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
15/30
21 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
21 declarations (1.1x state county average of 20)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
14 of 21 declarations are major disasters (67%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Caroline County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Caroline 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
67%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
46
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Caroline 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 | 4.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 8 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.1 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 7.5 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 901 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 5.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 808 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 35 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 1.6 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 19 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Snowstorm 7
Hurricane 7
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Flood 1
What Snowstorm declarations mean here
Snowstorm is the most frequent declaration type on Caroline County's record, 33% of its declarations. Snow-related declarations work on a narrower basis than most other hazards: they are generally issued to reimburse the cost of snow removal and emergency protective measures, rather than to repair destroyed property.
The qualifying test is unusual too. FEMA assesses snowfall against record levels for the affected area, so the same storm total can qualify in a county where it is historically extreme and not qualify a few hundred miles north where it is an ordinary winter. A low snowstorm declaration count is therefore not evidence of mild winters.
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 - 14 66.7%
of all 21 declarations
Emergency - 7 33.3%
of all 21 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Show 1 earlier declaration years
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 21 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 21 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3634 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 4491 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-26 |
| 3430 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4261 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2016-03-04 |
| 4091 | HURRICANE SANDY | DR | Hurricane | 2012-11-20 |
| 3349 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 4034 | HURRICANE IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-09-16 |
| 3335 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-27 |
| 1910 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-05-06 |
| 1875 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-02-19 |
| 1652 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-07-02 |
| 3251 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1492 | HURRICANE ISABEL | DR | Hurricane | 2003-09-19 |
| 3179 | SNOW | EM | Severe Storm | 2003-03-14 |
| 1324 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-04-10 |
| 1303 | HURRICANE FLOYD MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS | DR | Hurricane | 1999-09-24 |
| 1081 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-11 |
| 1016 | SEVERE WINTER WEATHER AND ICE STORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 1994-03-16 |
| 3100 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-16 |
| 524 | ICE CONDITIONS | DR | Snowstorm | 1977-01-26 |
Show 1 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 341 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
Storm Events in Maryland
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Caroline County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 3,959 | 6 | 43 | $102.0M |
| Winter Weather | 1,341 | 4 | 26 | $95.0K |
| Flood | 1,089 | 1 | 0 | $1.4M |
| Flash Flood | 790 | 9 | 4 | $96.3M |
| Dense Fog | 513 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
77
Total Paid
$1.4M
Avg Per Claim
$17.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 45.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$12.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Landslide 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 Caroline 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 Snowstorm. 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
Caroline County's closest FEMA peer: Benton County, IN
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Caroline County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Caroline County shows 21 FEMA declarations, led by Snowstorm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Caroline County: 14 of 21 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Caroline County: NRI composite 45.7 (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 Caroline County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Caroline 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: 45.7 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 21. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Caroline County's NFIP claims file (77 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 Caroline County?
The most common disaster type in Caroline County is Snowstorm, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (7), Severe Storm (3), Biological (2).
How does Caroline County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Maryland average?
FEMA lists 21 declaration records for Caroline County. That is 7% above the Maryland county mean of 19.6. Its count is also 1% 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 Caroline County received?
Caroline County has received 14 major disaster declarations, representing 67% of all 21 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Caroline County filed?
Caroline County has 77 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.4M in payments, with an average of $17.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Caroline County?
No. In Caroline County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Hurricane leads Expected Annual Loss at about $4.8M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Caroline County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Caroline County was 2003, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Caroline County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Caroline County, Maryland has an overall risk score of 45.7 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $12.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Caroline County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Caroline County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively Moderate) and Strong Wind (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 4.2 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 154 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 Caroline County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Maryland profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events