FEMA Records
19
Below median
Ohio · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Cuyahoga County, OH
19 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 19
- FEMA declarations
- 14
- Major disasters
- 98
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Cuyahoga County. Its 19 FEMA declarations are 30% above the Ohio county mean and exceed the count for 41% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 2%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 2%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 19
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,730
- 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.
How does Cuyahoga County compare?
Cuyahoga County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
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 · 2026-08-03
Cuyahoga County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Ohio county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Cuyahoga County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $177.8M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Cold Wave carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High). 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 Cuyahoga County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,730 claims and $35.3M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $20.4K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Cuyahoga County's 19 federal records stand 30% above the Ohio county mean of 14.6. 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 98.0/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $282.4M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Cold Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 3.7 times per year here, based on 70 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 19 entries for Cuyahoga County, including 14 Major Disaster records, 30% above the Ohio county mean. Across the 55-year span, that works out to 0.3 declarations a year. Severe Storm leads the file with 6 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
66 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Cuyahoga County, OH · 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 High
16/25
19 declarations (1.3x state county average of 15)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
14 of 19 declarations are major disasters (74%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Cuyahoga County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Ohio Avg
+30%
State avg: 14.6
vs. National Avg
-8%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.3
Over 55 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Cuyahoga 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
74%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
98
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Cuyahoga 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Wave | Very High | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Tornado | Very High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 2.8 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively High | 2.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 2 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 19 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 40 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1,075 years |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 76 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 57,975 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 79 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 6
Flood 4
Tornado 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 2
Other 1
Snowstorm 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Cuyahoga County's record, 32% 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 - 14 73.7%
of all 19 declarations
Emergency - 5 26.3%
of all 19 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 3 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4507 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-31 |
| 3457 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4098 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING DUE TO THE REMNANTS OF HURRICANE SANDY | DR | Hurricane | 2013-01-03 |
| 3346 | SEVERE STORMS | EM | Severe Storm | 2012-06-30 |
| 1651 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-07-02 |
| 3250 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1556 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-09-19 |
| 1519 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-06-03 |
| 3187 | POWER OUTAGE | EM | Other | 2003-09-23 |
| 1484 | TORNADOES, FLOODING, SEVERE STORMS, AND HIGH WINDS | DR | Tornado | 2003-08-01 |
| 1444 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-11-18 |
| 951 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1992-08-04 |
| 831 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1989-06-10 |
| 3055 | BLIZZARDS & SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1978-01-26 |
| 480 | WINDS, TORNADOES, HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-09-11 |
| 377 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-04-27 |
| 345 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-07-19 |
| 266 | TORNADOES, SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1969-07-15 |
| 191 | TORNADOES & SEVERE STORMS | DR | Tornado | 1965-04-14 |
Storm Events in Ohio
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Cuyahoga County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 6,938 | 6 | 39 | $60.4M |
| Winter Weather | 2,101 | 7 | 42 | $3.3M |
| Hail | 1,749 | 0 | 0 | $673.5K |
| Flood | 1,607 | 9 | 0 | $84.5M |
| Flash Flood | 1,089 | 9 | 7 | $112.2M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1,730
Total Paid
$35.3M
Avg Per Claim
$20.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 98.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$282.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Very High
Tornado Very High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Ice Storm Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Hail Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Coastal Flooding Very Low
Drought No Rating
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: Cold Wave
Cold Wave measures exposure to extreme cold rather than to snow. Its harm is concentrated in health effects, burst infrastructure and energy demand spikes, and it falls hardest where the building stock and the grid were not built with sustained cold in mind.
Worth noting for Cuyahoga County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), 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
Cuyahoga County's closest FEMA peer: East Baton Rouge Parish, LA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Cuyahoga County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Cuyahoga County: NRI composite 98.0 (Relatively High).
Similar Major-disaster share
Cuyahoga County: 14 of 19 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Cuyahoga County shows 19 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
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 Cuyahoga County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Cuyahoga County's NFIP claims file (1,730 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Cuyahoga County?
The most common disaster type in Cuyahoga County is Severe Storm, with 6 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (4), Tornado (3), Biological (2).
How does Cuyahoga County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Ohio average?
FEMA lists 19 declaration records for Cuyahoga County. That is 30% above the Ohio county mean of 14.6. Its count is also 8% below 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 Cuyahoga County received?
Cuyahoga County has received 14 major disaster declarations, representing 74% of all 19 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Cuyahoga County filed?
Cuyahoga County has 1,730 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $35.3M in payments, with an average of $20.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Cuyahoga County?
No. In Cuyahoga County, Cold Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $177.8M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Cuyahoga County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Cuyahoga County was 2003, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Cuyahoga County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Cuyahoga County, Ohio has an overall risk score of 98.0 out of 100 (Relatively High). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $282.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Cuyahoga County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Cuyahoga County as of the latest release is Cold Wave (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Tornado (Very High) and Riverine Flooding (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 3.7 times per year, drawn from 70 historical events on record. 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.
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.
What this means for Cuyahoga County
Cuyahoga County, OH has 19 federal declaration records, 30% more than the Ohio county mean of 15; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 14 of 19 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Ohio overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Ohio mean and the totals for 41% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- The large NFIP claims file and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records; the guide explains where they overlap and where they do not. 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.