FEMA Records
23
Above median
Virginia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Culpeper County, VA
23 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 23
- FEMA declarations
- 16
- Major disasters
- 46
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Culpeper County. Its 23 FEMA declarations are 13% above the Virginia county mean and exceed the count for 62% 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
- 23
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 43
- 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 51047 · Culpeper County 23 declarations · rank 1239/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 23
- MAJOR-MID 70%
- RANK-LOWER #1,239
- PHOTO-FINISH Roanoke
- NRI-LOW 46
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-ABOVE +13%
Nearest declaration peer: Roanoke, VA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Virginia state profile
Culpeper County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Culpeper County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Amherst · near 23
Amherst · near
23 declarations
- Culpeper · this county 23
Culpeper · this county
23 declarations
- Roanoke · near 23
Roanoke · near
23 declarations
- Vance · near 23
Vance · near
23 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Culpeper County carries 23 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1239 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Culpeper County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Culpeper County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Culpeper County
23 Top 38% higher than 62% 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
Culpeper County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Culpeper County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $9.8M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), 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 Culpeper County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 46.2/100 for this county (Relatively Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Relatively Low (roughly $14.9M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively Low) and community resilience (Relatively Moderate) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. 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 2.7 modeled event-days per year here, based on 91 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 43 claims and $721.9K 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. Culpeper County's 23 federal records stand 13% above the Virginia county mean of 20.4. 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.
68 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Culpeper County, VA · 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
17/30
23 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
23 declarations (1.1x state county average of 20)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
16 of 23 declarations are major disasters (70%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Culpeper County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Culpeper 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
70%
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 Culpeper 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 | 2.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 41 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 570 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 3 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 4.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 5.8 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 3.4 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 8.4 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,793 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | an average of 1.3 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 6
Severe Storm 5
Snowstorm 5
Biological 2
Flood 2
Winter Storm 1
Earthquake 1
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Culpeper County's federal record, 26% 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 - 16 69.6%
of all 23 declarations
Emergency - 7 30.4%
of all 23 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 2 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 23 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 23 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3631 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-23 |
| 4644 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2022-03-11 |
| 4512 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-02 |
| 3448 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3403 | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM | Hurricane | 2018-09-11 |
| 4262 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2016-03-07 |
| 4092 | HURRICANE SANDY | DR | Hurricane | 2012-11-26 |
| 3359 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-29 |
| 4072 | SEVERE STORMS AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-07-27 |
| 4042 | EARTHQUAKE | DR | Earthquake | 2011-11-04 |
| 1905 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-04-27 |
| 1874 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-02-16 |
| 3240 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-12 |
| 1491 | HURRICANE ISABEL | DR | Hurricane | 2003-09-18 |
| 1318 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-02-28 |
| 1135 | HURRICANE FRAN AND ASSOCIATED SEVERE STORM COND | DR | Hurricane | 1996-09-06 |
| 1086 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-13 |
| 1059 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-07-01 |
| 1021 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-04-11 |
| 3112 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-25 |
Show 3 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3046 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-07-23 |
| 359 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-10-10 |
| 339 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
Storm Events in Virginia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Culpeper County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 8,940 | 13 | 31 | $123.1M |
| Flood | 2,300 | 4 | 0 | $85.1M |
| Winter Weather | 2,049 | 6 | 32 | $902.0K |
| Flash Flood | 1,942 | 13 | 4 | $244.2M |
| Heavy Rain | 1,566 | 0 | 0 | $2.5M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
43
Total Paid
$721.9K
Avg Per Claim
$16.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 46.2/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$14.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Cold Wave 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 Culpeper 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 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
Culpeper County's closest FEMA peer: Little River County, AR
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Culpeper County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Culpeper County shows 23 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Culpeper County: 16 of 23 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Culpeper County: NRI composite 46.2 (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 Culpeper County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Culpeper 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: 46.2 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 23. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 23 FEMA declarations, Culpeper 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 Culpeper County?
The most common disaster type in Culpeper County is Hurricane, with 6 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (5), Snowstorm (5), Biological (2).
How does Culpeper County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Virginia average?
FEMA lists 23 declaration records for Culpeper County. That is 13% above the Virginia county mean of 20.4. Its count is also 11% 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 Culpeper County received?
Culpeper County has received 16 major disaster declarations, representing 70% of all 23 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Culpeper County filed?
Culpeper County has 43 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $721.9K in payments, with an average of $16.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Culpeper County?
No. In Culpeper County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $9.8M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Culpeper County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Culpeper County was 1996, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Culpeper County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Culpeper County, Virginia has an overall risk score of 46.2 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Low, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $14.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Culpeper County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Culpeper County as of the latest release is Drought (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Relatively Moderate) and Hurricane (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 2.7 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 91 historical events on record. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against 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 Culpeper County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Virginia profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events