FEMA Records
11
Low volume
Utah · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Davis County, UT
11 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Biological.
- 11
- FEMA declarations
- 6
- Major disasters
- 88
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Biological
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Davis County. Its 11 FEMA declarations are 30% above the Utah county mean and exceed the count for 12% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 12%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 12%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 11
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 185
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Fire Management Assistance (FM) records, which are not presidential disaster declarations, alongside Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 49011 · Davis County 11 declarations · rank 2811/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-MID 11
- MAJOR-MID 55%
- RANK-LOWER #2,811
- PHOTO-FINISH Meeker
- NRI-MID 88
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Biological
- VS-ST-ABOVE +30%
Nearest declaration peer: Meeker, MN (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Utah state profile
Davis County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Davis County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Brown · near 11
Brown · near
11 declarations
- Davis · this county 11
Davis · this county
11 declarations
- Meeker · near 11
Meeker · near
11 declarations
- Wasatch · near 11
Wasatch · near
11 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Davis County carries 11 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2811 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Davis County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Davis County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Davis County
11 12th percentile higher than 12% 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
Davis County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Davis County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 185 paid claims, totaling $1.1M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $5.8K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Davis County's 11 federal records stand 30% above the Utah county mean of 8.5. 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 87.8/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $127.7M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very Low and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Earthquake carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 66 years here.
56 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Davis County, UT · 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
8/30
11 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
16/25
11 declarations (1.3x state county average of 8)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
6 of 11 declarations are major disasters (55%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Davis County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Davis 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
55%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
88
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Davis 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 66 years |
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 34 times per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 388 years |
| Avalanche | Relatively High | roughly once every 3 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 25 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 2.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 10,000 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 46 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 22 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 67 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 2
Biological 2
Fire 2
Flood 2
Earthquake 1
Coastal Storm 1
Drought 1
What Biological declarations mean here
Biological is the most frequent declaration type on Davis County's record, 18% of its declarations. In practice this category is dominated by the COVID-19 declarations of 2020, which were issued across every US state and territory rather than in response to any local hazard event.
This has a direct consequence for how Davis County's number should be read. Because those declarations reached essentially every county in the country, they raise every county's total by a similar amount and tell you nothing about local hazard exposure. A county whose record is led by Biological declarations is, in most cases, a county with a genuinely quiet weather-hazard history, the pandemic records are simply the largest thing in an otherwise short list.
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 - 6 54.5%
of all 11 declarations
Emergency - 3 27.3%
of all 11 declarations
Fire Management - 2 18.2%
of all 11 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 11 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 11 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4578 | STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2021-01-12 |
| 4548 | EARTHQUAKE AND AFTERSHOCKS | DR | Earthquake | 2020-07-09 |
| 4525 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3478 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5292 | GUN RANGE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2019-08-30 |
| 5206 | UINTAH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2017-09-05 |
| 4053 | SEVERE STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-02-01 |
| 3223 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-05 |
| 720 | SEVERE STORMS, MUDSLIDES, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-08-17 |
| 680 | SEVERE STORMS, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1983-04-30 |
| 3024 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-20 |
Storm Events in Utah
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Davis County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,382 | 3 | 7 | $2.2M |
| Flash Flood | 536 | 29 | 17 | $101.2M |
| High Wind | 496 | 4 | 60 | $12.7M |
| Heavy Snow | 488 | 1 | 2 | $2.4M |
| Winter Storm | 344 | 1 | 36 | $435.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
185
Total Paid
$1.1M
Avg Per Claim
$5.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 87.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$127.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Lightning Very High
Landslide Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Avalanche Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Hail Very Low
Coastal Flooding 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: Earthquake
Earthquake is the model's clearest example of a hazard with no season and no warning. Its expected loss is driven less by how often shaking occurs than by how much of the building stock predates modern seismic codes, so exposure can be high in places where nothing has happened for a long time.
Worth noting for Davis County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Earthquake carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Biological. 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
Davis County's closest FEMA peer: Houston County, AL
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Davis County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Davis County: NRI composite 87.8 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar Major-disaster share
Davis County: 6 of 11 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Davis County shows 11 FEMA declarations, led by Biological.
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 Davis County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Davis 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: 87.8 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 11. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Davis County's NFIP claims file (185 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 Davis County?
The most common disaster type in Davis County is Biological, with 2 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (2), Fire (2), Flood (2).
How does Davis County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Utah average?
FEMA lists 11 declaration records for Davis County. That is 30% above the Utah county mean of 8.5. Its count is also 47% 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 Davis County received?
Davis County has received 6 major disaster declarations, representing 55% of all 11 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Davis County filed?
Davis County has 185 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.1M in payments, with an average of $5.8K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Davis County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Davis County was 2020, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Davis County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Davis County, Utah has an overall risk score of 87.8 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). On social vulnerability the county rates Very Low; on community resilience, Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $127.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Davis County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Davis County as of the latest release is Earthquake (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Very High) and Landslide (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts earthquake here at roughly once every 66 years. 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 Davis County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Utah profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events