FEMA Records
37
Very high volume
Oklahoma · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Cotton County, OK
37 FEMA disaster declarations (1971-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 37
- FEMA declarations
- 29
- Major disasters
- 5
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Cotton County. Its 37 FEMA declarations are 15% above the Oklahoma county mean and exceed the count for 95% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 5%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 5%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 37
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 17
- 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 40033 · Cotton County 37 declarations · rank 169/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 37
- MAJOR-MID 78%
- RANK-UPPER #169
- PHOTO-FINISH Washita
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +15%
Nearest declaration peer: Washita, OK (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Oklahoma state profile
Cotton County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Cotton County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Cotton · this county
Cotton · this county
37 declarations
- Grant · near
Grant · near
37 declarations
- Marion · near
Marion · near
37 declarations
- Washita · near
Washita · near
37 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Cotton County carries 37 FEMA declaration records, ranked 169 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Cotton County ranks in the national declaration registry
Cotton County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Cotton County
37 Top 5% higher than 95% 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
Cotton County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Cotton County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $879.6K Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Drought 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 Cotton County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits at the very bottom of FEMA's National Risk Index nationally, a composite score of 4.9/100 (rated Very Low). Projected losses are minimal, Expected Annual Loss reads Very Low (roughly $2.9M in annualized losses), and the county's exposure is shaped by a Relatively Moderate social-vulnerability profile and Relatively Low community resilience. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Drought carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 92 modeled event-days per year here, based on 2,604 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 17 claims and $160.6K 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. Cotton County's 37 federal records stand 15% above the Oklahoma county mean of 32.2. 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.
79 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Cotton County, OK · 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) Very High
27/30
37 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.8x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
37 declarations (1.1x state county average of 32)
Major Disaster Share Very High
20/25
29 of 37 declarations are major disasters (78%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Cotton County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Cotton 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
78%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
5
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Cotton 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 Moderate | 92 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 273 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 16 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 4 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 736 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 10 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 105 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 7.4 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 51 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 18
Severe Ice Storm 7
Tornado 4
Flood 4
Biological 2
Fire 1
Hurricane 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Cotton County's record, 49% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
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 - 29 78.4%
of all 37 declarations
Emergency - 8 21.6%
of all 37 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 3 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 6 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 4 | |
| 1995 | 2 | |
Show 7 earlier declaration years
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 37 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 37 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4776 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2024-04-30 |
| 4721 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-07-19 |
| 4587 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-24 |
| 3555 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-17 |
| 4530 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3462 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4324 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2017-07-25 |
| 4274 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-07-15 |
| 4256 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-02-10 |
| 4222 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-26 |
| 3316 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-02-02 |
| 1883 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2010-03-05 |
| 1876 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-02-25 |
| 3308 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2010-01-30 |
| 1775 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-07-09 |
| 3280 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-12-10 |
| 1723 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-08-31 |
| 1718 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-08-24 |
| 1712 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-07-07 |
| 1707 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-06-07 |
Show 17 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1678 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-02-01 |
| 3272 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-01-14 |
| 1623 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-10 |
| 3219 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1384 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-06-29 |
| 1355 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2001-01-05 |
| 3158 | SEVERE WINTER AND ICE STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2000-12-28 |
| 1349 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-11-27 |
| 1066 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-09-01 |
| 1058 | TORNADOES, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1995-06-26 |
| 991 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1993-05-12 |
| 866 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-05-18 |
| 794 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1987-07-09 |
| 693 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1983-10-26 |
| 576 | SEVERE STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1979-04-13 |
| 474 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING & TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1975-07-09 |
| 314 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODS | DR | Flood | 1971-09-28 |
Storm Events in Oklahoma
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Cotton County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 5,894 | 0 | 1 | $19.8M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,592 | 6 | 36 | $199.5M |
| Drought | 2,935 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heat | 2,134 | 7 | 428 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 1,771 | 2 | 401 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
17
Total Paid
$160.6K
Avg Per Claim
$9.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 4.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$2.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Hail Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Lightning 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 Cotton County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Severe Storm. 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
Cotton County's closest FEMA peer: Richland County, ND
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Cotton County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Cotton County shows 37 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Cotton County: 29 of 37 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Cotton County: NRI composite 4.9 (Very 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 Cotton County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Cotton 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: 4.9 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 37. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 37 FEMA declarations, Cotton 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 Cotton County?
The most common disaster type in Cotton County is Severe Storm, with 18 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Ice Storm (7), Tornado (4), Flood (4).
How does Cotton County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Oklahoma average?
FEMA lists 37 declaration records for Cotton County. That is 15% above the Oklahoma county mean of 32.2. Its count is also 79% 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 Cotton County received?
Cotton County has received 29 major disaster declarations, representing 78% of all 37 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Cotton County filed?
Cotton County has 17 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $160.6K in payments, with an average of $9.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Cotton County?
No. In Cotton County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $879.6K. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Cotton County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Cotton County was 2007, with 6 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1971 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Cotton County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Cotton County, Oklahoma has an overall risk score of 4.9 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $2.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Cotton County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Cotton County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Low) and Ice Storm (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 92 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 2,604 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 Cotton County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Oklahoma profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events