FEMA Records
30
High volume
Puerto Rico · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Ciales Municipio, PR
30 FEMA disaster declarations (1971-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of null. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 30
- FEMA declarations
- 20
- Major disasters
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
How does Ciales Municipio compare?
Ciales Municipio vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
30 Top 14% higher than 86% 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 · 2026-08-03
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Ciales Municipio is led by Hurricane (about $6.0M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Earthquake carries the highest National Risk Index rating (null). 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 Ciales Municipio's hazard record show?
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 30 entries for Ciales Municipio, including 20 Major Disaster records, 11% above the Puerto Rico county mean. Across the 53-year span, that works out to 0.6 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 15 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
FEMA National Risk Index
Even the county's top-rated hazard, Earthquake, only reaches on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 24 years here.
Reading the federal records together
No paid-claim row for this county appears in the NFIP county table used by PlainHazard. That absence is not evidence that flooding never occurred: the register observes claims under federal flood-insurance policies, not uninsured losses, emergency reports, or every flood outside the program. The FEMA declaration history below is therefore the available federal-action record on this page.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Ciales Municipio's 30 federal records stand 11% above the Puerto Rico county mean of 27.1. 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.
66 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Ciales Municipio, PR · 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
30 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.4x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
30 declarations (1.1x state county average of 27)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
20 of 30 declarations are major disasters (67%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Ciales Municipio
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Puerto Rico Avg
+11%
State avg: 27.1
vs. National Avg
+45%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.6
Over 53 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Ciales Municipio
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
County FIPS
72039
PR state code
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Ciales Municipio?
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | roughly once every 24 years | |
| Hail | roughly once every 38 years | |
| Hurricane | roughly once every 6 years | |
| Heat Wave | 0 modeled event-days per year | |
| Riverine Flooding | roughly once every 2 years | |
| Landslide | an average of 34 times per year | |
| Lightning | an average of 72 times per year | |
| Strong Wind | roughly once every 201 years | |
| Tornado | roughly once every 355 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 15
Flood 6
Severe Storm 5
Biological 2
Earthquake 2
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Ciales Municipio's federal record, 50% 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).
Major Disaster - 20 66.7%
of all 30 declarations
Emergency - 10 33.3%
of all 30 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 6 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 3 | |
| 2011 | 3 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 2 | |
| 1985 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 2 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 30 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 30 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3610 | TROPICAL STORM ERNESTO | EM | Severe Storm | 2024-08-13 |
| 4671 | HURRICANE FIONA | DR | Hurricane | 2022-09-21 |
| 3583 | TROPICAL STORM FIONA | EM | Hurricane | 2022-09-18 |
| 3537 | TROPICAL STORM LAURA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-22 |
| 3532 | POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE NINE | EM | Hurricane | 2020-07-29 |
| 4493 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-27 |
| 3452 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4473 | EARTHQUAKES | DR | Earthquake | 2020-01-16 |
| 3426 | EARTHQUAKES | EM | Earthquake | 2020-01-07 |
| 3417 | TROPICAL STORM DORIAN | EM | Severe Storm | 2019-08-27 |
| 4339 | HURRICANE MARIA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-20 |
| 3391 | HURRICANE MARIA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-18 |
| 4336 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-10 |
| 4017 | HURRICANE IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-08-27 |
| 3326 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-22 |
| 4004 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-07-14 |
| 1552 | TROPICAL STORM JEANNE AND RESULTING LANDSLIDES AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-09-17 |
| 1396 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-11-28 |
| 3151 | HURRICANE LENNY | EM | Hurricane | 1999-11-17 |
| 1247 | HURRICANE GEORGES - 18 SEP 98 | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-24 |
Show 10 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1136 | HURRICANE HORTENSE | DR | Hurricane | 1996-09-11 |
| 1068 | HURRICANE MARILYN | DR | Hurricane | 1995-09-16 |
| 842 | HURRICANE HUGO | DR | Hurricane | 1989-09-21 |
| 768 | HEAVY RAINS, FLOODING & MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 1986-07-10 |
| 746 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING & MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 1985-10-10 |
| 736 | STORMS, MUD/LAND SLIDES, FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1985-05-31 |
| 597 | HURRICANE DAVID | DR | Hurricane | 1979-09-02 |
| 483 | TROPICAL STORM ELIOISE | DR | Flood | 1975-09-19 |
| 455 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-11-30 |
| 296 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1970-10-12 |
Storm Events in Puerto Rico
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Ciales Municipio.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | 907 | 31 | 14 | $19.0B |
| Flood | 858 | 2 | 0 | $2.0M |
| Debris Flow | 297 | 0 | 0 | $3.8M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 194 | 1 | 3 | $1.7M |
| Excessive Heat | 184 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Score: N/A/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$16.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Data Unavailable
Community Resilience
Data Unavailable
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Earthquake
Hail
Hurricane
Heat Wave
Riverine Flooding
Landslide
Lightning
Strong Wind
Tornado
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: Earthquake
Earthquake is the model's clearest example of a hazard with no season and no warning. Its expected loss is driven less by how often shaking occurs than by how much of the building stock predates modern seismic codes, so exposure can be high in places where nothing has happened for a long time.
Worth noting for Ciales Municipio: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Earthquake carries the highest modeled rating, while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. 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
Ciales Municipio's closest FEMA peer: Broome County, NY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields for Ciales Municipio. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Ciales Municipio shows 30 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Ciales Municipio: 20 of 30 of its declarations are Major.
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 Ciales Municipio - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 30 FEMA declarations, Ciales Municipio 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Ciales Municipio?
The most common disaster type in Ciales Municipio is Hurricane, with 15 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (6), Severe Storm (5), Biological (2).
How does Ciales Municipio's FEMA declaration record compare with the Puerto Rico average?
FEMA lists 30 declaration records for Ciales Municipio. That is 11% above the Puerto Rico county mean of 27.1. Its count is also 45% 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 Ciales Municipio received?
Ciales Municipio has received 20 major disaster declarations, representing 67% of all 30 disaster declarations.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Ciales Municipio?
No. In Ciales Municipio, Earthquake has the highest National Risk Index rating (null), while Hurricane leads Expected Annual Loss at about $6.0M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Ciales Municipio?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Ciales Municipio was 2020, with 6 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1971 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Ciales Municipio?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Ciales Municipio, Puerto Rico has an overall risk score of N/A out of 100 (null). Social vulnerability here rates Data Unavailable, while community resilience comes in at Data Unavailable. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $16.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Ciales Municipio?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Ciales Municipio as of the latest release is Earthquake (risk rating: null). Other significant hazards include Hail (null) and Hurricane (null). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts earthquake here at roughly once every 24 years. 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.
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.
What this means for Ciales Municipio
Ciales Municipio, PR has 30 federal declaration records, 11% more than the Puerto Rico county mean of 27; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 20 of 30 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Puerto Rico overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Puerto Rico mean and the totals for 86% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- With no NFIP county row, the declaration register and modeled NRI remain distinct evidence rather than substitutes for a claims history. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.