FEMA Records
28
High volume
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Dallas County, TX
28 FEMA disaster declarations (1966-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very High. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 28
- FEMA declarations
- 15
- Major disasters
- 100
- NRI risk · Very High
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Dallas County. Its 28 FEMA declarations are 34% above the Texas county mean and exceed the count for 81% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 1%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 1%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 28
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 3,453
- 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 Dallas County compare?
Dallas County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
28 Top 19% higher than 81% 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
Dallas County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Texas county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Dallas County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $323.7M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Hail 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 Dallas County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 3,453 claims and $69.3M 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 $20.1K. 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. Dallas County's 28 federal records stand 34% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. 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 99.7/100 (Very High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $973.2M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hail stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 8.9 times per year here, based on 339 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 28 entries for Dallas County, including 15 Major Disaster records, 34% above the Texas county mean. Across the 58-year span, that works out to 0.5 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 8 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
70 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Dallas County, TX · 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
20/30
28 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.4x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
17/25
28 declarations (1.3x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
15 of 28 declarations are major disasters (54%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Dallas County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Texas Avg
+34%
State avg: 20.9
vs. National Avg
+35%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.5
Over 58 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Dallas 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
54%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
100
Very High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Dallas 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hail | Very High | an average of 8.9 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very High | 19 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Very High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Tornado | Very High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Ice Storm | Very High | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very High | an average of 4.6 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very High | an average of 4.1 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Very High | an average of 4.4 times per year |
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 56 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1,081 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2,046 years |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 87 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 30 modeled event-days per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 8
Severe Storm 6
Flood 4
Fire 4
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Other 1
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Dallas County's federal record, 29% 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 - 15 53.6%
of all 28 declarations
Emergency - 13 46.4%
of all 28 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 3 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
Show 6 earlier declaration years
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1966 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 28 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 28 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4781 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2024-05-17 |
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 3540 | TROPICAL STORMS MARCO AND LAURA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-24 |
| 4485 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3458 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4332 | HURRICANE HARVEY | DR | Hurricane | 2017-08-25 |
| 4255 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-02-09 |
| 4223 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-29 |
| 3294 | HURRICANE IKE | EM | Hurricane | 2008-09-10 |
| 3290 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-29 |
| 3284 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-03-14 |
| 3277 | HURRICANE DEAN | EM | Hurricane | 2007-08-18 |
| 1624 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-11 |
| 1606 | HURRICANE RITA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-09-24 |
| 3261 | HURRICANE RITA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-21 |
| 3216 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-02 |
| 3171 | LOSS OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA | EM | Other | 2003-02-01 |
| 3142 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARDS | EM | Fire | 1999-09-01 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
Show 8 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3117 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | EM | Fire | 1996-02-23 |
| 1026 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-04-29 |
| 3113 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | EM | Drought | 1993-09-10 |
| 930 | SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS | DR | Flood | 1991-12-26 |
| 863 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-05-02 |
| 828 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1989-05-19 |
| 595 | STORMS & FLASH FLOODS | DR | Flood | 1979-07-28 |
| 218 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1966-05-12 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Dallas County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 14,072 | 0 | 15 | $7.4B |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 10,293 | 41 | 141 | $369.9M |
| Drought | 7,032 | 0 | 0 | $86.0K |
| Flash Flood | 4,728 | 338 | 24 | $47.6B |
| Heat | 4,079 | 119 | 405 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
3,453
Total Paid
$69.3M
Avg Per Claim
$20.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very High
Score: 99.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$973.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Very High
Heat Wave Very High
Cold Wave Very High
Tornado Very High
Ice Storm Very High
Riverine Flooding Very High
Winter Weather Very High
Strong Wind Very High
Lightning Very High
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Hail
Hail is among the most expensive hazards in the model relative to how little it threatens life. It concentrates on roofs, vehicles and crops, and a single severe storm can generate an insurance loss across a metropolitan area without a single injury.
Worth noting for Dallas County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Hail carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), 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
Dallas County's closest FEMA peer: Beaver County, OK
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Dallas County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Dallas County shows 28 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Dallas County: 15 of 28 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Dallas County: NRI composite 99.7 (Very High).
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 Dallas County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Dallas County's NFIP claims file (3,453 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 Dallas County?
The most common disaster type in Dallas County is Hurricane, with 8 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (6), Flood (4), Fire (4).
How does Dallas County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
FEMA lists 28 declaration records for Dallas County. That is 34% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. Its count is also 35% 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 Dallas County received?
Dallas County has received 15 major disaster declarations, representing 54% of all 28 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Dallas County filed?
Dallas County has 3,453 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $69.3M in payments, with an average of $20.1K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Dallas County?
No. In Dallas County, Hail has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $323.7M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Dallas County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Dallas County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1966 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Dallas County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Dallas County, Texas has an overall risk score of 99.7 out of 100 (Very High). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Moderate, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $973.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Dallas County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Dallas County is Hail (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Heat Wave (Very High) and Cold Wave (Very High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 8.9 times per year, drawn from 339 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 Dallas County
Dallas County, TX has 28 federal declaration records, 34% more than the Texas county mean of 21; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 15 of 28 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Texas overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Texas mean and the totals for 81% 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.