FEMA Records
26
High volume
South Carolina · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Chesterfield County, SC
26 FEMA disaster declarations (1984-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 26
- FEMA declarations
- 12
- Major disasters
- 74
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Chesterfield County. Its 26 FEMA declarations are 2% above the South Carolina county mean and exceed the count for 75% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 26%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 26%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 26
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 13
- 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 45025 · Chesterfield County 26 declarations · rank 745/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 26
- MAJOR-LIGHT 46%
- RANK-MID #745
- PHOTO-FINISH Hunterdon
- NRI-LOW 74
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-ABOVE +2%
Nearest declaration peer: Hunterdon, NJ (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · South Carolina state profile
Chesterfield County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Chesterfield County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Chesterfield · this county 26
Chesterfield · this county
26 declarations
- Hunterdon · near 26
Hunterdon · near
26 declarations
- Pierce · near 26
Pierce · near
26 declarations
- San Sebastián · near 26
San Sebastián · near
26 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Chesterfield County carries 26 FEMA declaration records, ranked 745 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Chesterfield County ranks in the national declaration registry
Chesterfield County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Chesterfield County
26 Top 25% higher than 75% 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
Chesterfield County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Chesterfield County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $7.6M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Hurricane carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 Chesterfield County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 74.0/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $22.5M in annualized losses), and a Very High social-vulnerability profile combined with Very Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Hurricane carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 5 years here, based on 71 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 13 claims and $166.4K 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.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Chesterfield County's 26 federal records stand 2% above the South Carolina county mean of 25.6. 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.
64 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Chesterfield County, SC · 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
19/30
26 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
26 declarations (1.0x state county average of 26)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
12/25
12 of 26 declarations are major disasters (46%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Chesterfield County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Chesterfield 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
46%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
74
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Chesterfield 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 5 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 4.3 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 56 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 396 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 863 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 3.9 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 21 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 2.6 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 15
Tropical Storm 2
Biological 2
Severe Storm 2
Severe Ice Storm 2
Winter Storm 1
Flood 1
Tornado 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Chesterfield County's federal record, 58% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
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).
Emergency - 14 53.8%
of all 26 declarations
Major Disaster - 12 46.2%
of all 26 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 2 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 3 | |
| 2017 | 3 | |
| 2016 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 26 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 26 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3632 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-23 |
| 3619 | HURRICANE HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-26 |
| 3606 | HURRICANE DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-05 |
| 3597 | HURRICANE IDALIA | EM | Hurricane | 2023-08-31 |
| 4677 | HURRICANE IAN | DR | Hurricane | 2022-11-21 |
| 3585 | HURRICANE IAN | EM | Hurricane | 2022-09-29 |
| 4492 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-27 |
| 3470 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3421 | HURRICANE DORIAN | EM | Hurricane | 2019-09-01 |
| 4394 | HURRICANE FLORENCE | DR | Hurricane | 2018-09-16 |
| 3400 | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM | Hurricane | 2018-09-10 |
| 4346 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-10-16 |
| 3386 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-07 |
| 4286 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | DR | Hurricane | 2016-10-11 |
| 3378 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | EM | Hurricane | 2016-10-06 |
| 4241 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2015-10-05 |
| 3373 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Storm | 2015-10-03 |
| 4166 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2014-03-12 |
| 3369 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2014-02-12 |
| 3233 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
Show 6 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1566 | TROPICAL STORM FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 2004-10-07 |
| 1313 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-01-31 |
| 1299 | HURRICANE FLOYD MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS | DR | Hurricane | 1999-09-21 |
| 3145 | HURRICANE FLOYD EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS | EM | Hurricane | 1999-09-15 |
| 843 | HURRICANE HUGO | DR | Hurricane | 1989-09-22 |
| 700 | SEVERE STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1984-03-30 |
Storm Events in South Carolina
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Chesterfield County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,845 | 11 | 40 | $11.4M |
| Hail | 1,207 | 0 | 0 | $25.1M |
| Flash Flood | 954 | 20 | 35 | $150.4M |
| Strong Wind | 395 | 4 | 13 | $711.8K |
| Tornado | 320 | 9 | 110 | $127.1M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
13
Total Paid
$166.4K
Avg Per Claim
$12.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 74.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$22.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Low
Wildfire Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively 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: Hurricane
Hurricane exposure in the model bundles the three ways a tropical system does harm, which arrive on different timescales and are insured differently: wind, storm surge on the coast, and rainfall flooding that can reach far inland well after landfall.
For Chesterfield County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), and Hurricane 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
Chesterfield County's closest FEMA peer: Palo Pinto County, TX
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Chesterfield County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Chesterfield County shows 26 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Chesterfield County: 12 of 26 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Chesterfield County: NRI composite 74.0 (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 Chesterfield County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Chesterfield 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: 74.0 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 26. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 26 FEMA declarations, Chesterfield County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
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 Chesterfield County?
The most common disaster type in Chesterfield County is Hurricane, with 15 declarations. Other disaster types include Tropical Storm (2), Biological (2), Severe Storm (2).
How does Chesterfield County's FEMA declaration record compare with the South Carolina average?
FEMA lists 26 declaration records for Chesterfield County. That is 2% above the South Carolina county mean of 25.6. Its count is also 25% 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 Chesterfield County received?
Chesterfield County has received 12 major disaster declarations, representing 46% of all 26 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Chesterfield County filed?
Chesterfield County has 13 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $166.4K in payments, with an average of $12.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Chesterfield County?
No. In Chesterfield County, Hurricane has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $7.6M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Chesterfield County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Chesterfield County was 2017, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1984 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Chesterfield County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Chesterfield County, South Carolina has an overall risk score of 74.0 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Very High, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $22.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Chesterfield County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Chesterfield County as of the latest release is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Strong Wind (Relatively High) and Tornado (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 5 years, drawn from 71 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 Chesterfield County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · South Carolina profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events