FEMA Records
19
Below median
New York · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Chemung County, NY
19 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 19
- FEMA declarations
- 12
- Major disasters
- 55
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Chemung County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 19 declarations, more than 41% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 23% below the New York county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 45%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 45%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 19
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 304
- 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 36015 · Chemung County 19 declarations · rank 1855/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 19
- MAJOR-MID 63%
- RANK-LOWER #1,855
- PHOTO-FINISH Bartow
- NRI-LOW 55
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-BELOW -23%
Nearest declaration peer: Bartow, GA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · New York state profile
Chemung County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Chemung County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Bartow · near 19
Bartow · near
19 declarations
- Chemung · this county 19
Chemung · this county
19 declarations
- Union · near 19
Union · near
19 declarations
- Warren · near 19
Warren · near
19 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Chemung County carries 19 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1855 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Chemung County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Chemung County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Chemung County
19 41st percentile higher than 41% 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
Chemung County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Chemung County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 304 paid claims, totaling $2.6M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $8.7K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a New York county averages 24.5 federal declaration records, while Chemung County has 19. The gap is 23% 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 54.8/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $18.1M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Moderate social-vulnerability profile combined with Very High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Riverine Flooding, 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 1.4 times per year here, based on 40 historical events on record.
58 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Chemung 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
19 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
10/25
19 declarations (0.8x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share High
16/25
12 of 19 declarations are major disasters (63%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Chemung County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Chemung 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
55
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Chemung 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 Low | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 32 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 31 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 3.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 10 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,421 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 0.9 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 3.3 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 13 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 19,964 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 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 6
Severe Storm 5
Biological 2
Hurricane 2
Other 2
Fire 1
Snowstorm 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Chemung County's record, 32% 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 - 12 63.2%
of all 19 declarations
Emergency - 7 36.8%
of all 19 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 3 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 2 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 19 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 19 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4480 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-20 |
| 3434 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4397 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2018-10-01 |
| 3351 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 4031 | REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM LEE | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-09-13 |
| 3341 | REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM LEE | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-09-08 |
| 1993 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Flood | 2011-06-10 |
| 3262 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-30 |
| 1534 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-08-03 |
| 1486 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-08-29 |
| 3186 | POWER OUTAGE | EM | Other | 2003-08-23 |
| 1391 | FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS | DR | Fire | 2001-09-11 |
| 3155 | WEST NILE VIRUS | EM | Other | 2000-10-11 |
| 1148 | SEVERE STORMS HIGH WINDS, RAIN AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-12-09 |
| 1095 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-01-24 |
| 3107 | SEVERE BLIZZARD | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 512 | FLASH FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1976-06-29 |
| 487 | STORMS, RAINS, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-10-02 |
| 338 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
Storm Events in New York
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Chemung 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
304
Total Paid
$2.6M
Avg Per Claim
$8.7K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 54.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$18.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Landslide Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Hail 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: 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.
For Chemung County the two measures on this page point the same way: Riverine Flooding is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Low), and Flood declarations also lead its federal record. Where the model and the declaration history agree, the reading is comparatively straightforward, the hazard is both expected and repeatedly realised.
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
Chemung County's closest FEMA peer: Audrain County, MO
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Chemung County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Chemung County shows 19 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Chemung County: 12 of 19 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Chemung County: NRI composite 54.8 (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 Chemung County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Chemung 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: 54.8 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 19. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Chemung County's NFIP claims file (304 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 Chemung County?
The most common disaster type in Chemung County is Flood, with 6 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (5), Biological (2), Hurricane (2).
How does Chemung County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New York average?
The typical New York county has 24.5 FEMA declaration records; Chemung County has 19, or 23% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 8% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Chemung County received?
Chemung County has received 12 major disaster declarations, representing 63% of all 19 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Chemung County filed?
Chemung County has 304 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $2.6M in payments, with an average of $8.7K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Chemung County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Chemung County was 2011, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Chemung County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Chemung County, New York has an overall risk score of 54.8 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $18.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Chemung County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Chemung County is Riverine Flooding (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively Low) and Landslide (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts riverine flooding here at an average of 1.4 times per year, drawn from 40 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Chemung County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · New York profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events