FEMA Records
22
Above median
Pennsylvania · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Dauphin County, PA
22 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 22
- FEMA declarations
- 16
- Major disasters
- 91
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Dauphin County. Its 22 FEMA declarations are 18% above the Pennsylvania county mean and exceed the count for 57% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 9%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 9%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 22
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 5,246
- 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 42043 · Dauphin County 22 declarations · rank 1342/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 22
- MAJOR-MID 73%
- RANK-LOWER #1,342
- PHOTO-FINISH Hardy
- NRI-MID 91
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-ABOVE +18%
Nearest declaration peer: Hardy, WV (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Pennsylvania state profile
Dauphin County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Dauphin County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Dauphin · this county 22
Dauphin · this county
22 declarations
- Hardy · near 22
Hardy · near
22 declarations
- Prairie · near 22
Prairie · near
22 declarations
- St. Francis · near 22
St. Francis · near
22 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Dauphin County carries 22 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1342 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Dauphin County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Dauphin County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Dauphin County
22 Top 43% higher than 57% 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
Dauphin County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Dauphin County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $75.0M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Winter Weather 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 Dauphin County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 5,246 claims and $86.1M 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 $16.4K. 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. Dauphin County's 22 federal records stand 18% above the Pennsylvania county mean of 18.6. 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 91.1/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $99.8M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Winter Weather stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 12 times per year here, based on 234 historical events on record.
62 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Dauphin County, PA · 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
16/30
22 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
15/25
22 declarations (1.2x state county average of 19)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
16 of 22 declarations are major disasters (73%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Dauphin County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Dauphin 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
73%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
91
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Dauphin 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather | Very High | an average of 12 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 2 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 4.7 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 15 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 5.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 35 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 877 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 0.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 16,663 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 2.2 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 7
Hurricane 5
Snowstorm 4
Severe Storm 4
Biological 2
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Dauphin County's record, 32% of its declarations. Federal flood declarations cover two mechanisms that behave very differently: riverine flooding, which builds over days as a watershed drains and is usually forecast well in advance, and flash flooding, which can arrive in under an hour from rainfall that fell somewhere upstream.
Flood is also the one hazard class where a second federal dataset exists for the same events. The National Flood Insurance Program records what was actually paid on insured losses, so it measures a narrower thing than the declaration count: uninsured damage, and flooding outside mapped special flood hazard areas, never enters it. Reading the two together is more informative than either alone.
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 72.7%
of all 22 declarations
Emergency - 6 27.3%
of all 22 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 22 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 22 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4618 | REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IDA | DR | Hurricane | 2021-09-10 |
| 4506 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-30 |
| 3441 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4267 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2016-03-23 |
| 4099 | HURRICANE SANDY | DR | Hurricane | 2013-01-10 |
| 3356 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-29 |
| 4030 | TROPICAL STORM LEE | DR | Flood | 2011-09-12 |
| 3340 | REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM LEE | EM | Flood | 2011-09-08 |
| 1898 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-04-16 |
| 1649 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-06-30 |
| 3235 | HURRICANE KATRINA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1557 | TROPICAL DEPRESSION IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-19 |
| 1555 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL DEPRESSION FRANCES | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-09-19 |
| 3180 | SNOW | EM | Severe Storm | 2003-03-14 |
| 1298 | TROPICAL DEPRESSION DENNIS PA | DR | Flood | 1999-09-22 |
| 1093 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-01-21 |
| 1085 | BLIZZARD OF 96 | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-13 |
| 1015 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-03-10 |
| 3105 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-16 |
| 523 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1976-10-20 |
Show 2 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 485 | SEVERE STORMS, HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-09-26 |
| 340 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
Storm Events in Pennsylvania
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Dauphin County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 9,976 | 18 | 114 | $115.5M |
| Flash Flood | 2,288 | 23 | 8 | $463.2M |
| Winter Weather | 1,670 | 23 | 268 | $566.0K |
| Hail | 1,400 | 0 | 0 | $2.6M |
| Winter Storm | 881 | 14 | 17 | $2.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
5,246
Total Paid
$86.1M
Avg Per Claim
$16.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 91.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$99.8M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Winter Weather Very High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Low
Landslide Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Hail 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: Winter Weather
Winter Weather in the model means the accumulation of snow and cold that disrupts rather than destroys: road closures, roof loads, burst pipes and lost heating. Its costs land heavily on transport and on households least able to absorb an interruption.
Worth noting for Dauphin County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Winter Weather carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Flood. 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
Dauphin County's closest FEMA peer: Linn County, MO
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Dauphin County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Dauphin County shows 22 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Dauphin County: 16 of 22 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Dauphin County: NRI composite 91.1 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Dauphin County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Dauphin 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: 91.1 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 22. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Dauphin County's NFIP claims file (5,246 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).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Dauphin County?
The most common disaster type in Dauphin County is Flood, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (5), Snowstorm (4), Severe Storm (4).
How does Dauphin County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Pennsylvania average?
FEMA lists 22 declaration records for Dauphin County. That is 18% above the Pennsylvania county mean of 18.6. Its count is also 6% 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 Dauphin County received?
Dauphin County has received 16 major disaster declarations, representing 73% of all 22 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Dauphin County filed?
Dauphin County has 5,246 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $86.1M in payments, with an average of $16.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Dauphin County?
No. In Dauphin County, Winter Weather has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $75.0M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Dauphin County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Dauphin County was 1996, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Dauphin County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania has an overall risk score of 91.1 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Low and community resilience is Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $99.8M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Dauphin County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Dauphin County as of the latest release is Winter Weather (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Riverine Flooding (Relatively High) and Strong Wind (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts winter weather here at an average of 12 times per year, drawn from 234 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 Dauphin County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Pennsylvania profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events