FEMA Records
10
Low volume
Montana · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Dawson County, MT
10 FEMA disaster declarations (1986-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 10
- FEMA declarations
- 8
- Major disasters
- 64
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Dawson County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 10 declarations, more than 10% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 9% below the Montana county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 36%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 36%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 10
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 7
- 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 30021 · Dawson County 10 declarations · rank 2897/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 10
- MAJOR-HEAVY 80%
- RANK-LOWER #2,897
- PHOTO-FINISH Cheyenne
- NRI-LOW 64
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-BELOW -9%
Nearest declaration peer: Cheyenne, NE (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Montana state profile
Dawson County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Dawson County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Cheyenne · near 10
Cheyenne · near
10 declarations
- Clinton · near 10
Clinton · near
10 declarations
- Dawson · this county 10
Dawson · this county
10 declarations
- Golden Valley · near 10
Golden Valley · near
10 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Dawson County carries 10 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2897 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Dawson County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Dawson County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Dawson County
10 10th percentile higher than 10% 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
Dawson County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Dawson County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 63.8/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $21.4M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Moderate social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Moderate community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Cold Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 14 times per year here, based on 262 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 7 claims and $144.6K 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.
Start with the state benchmark: a Montana county averages 11.0 federal declaration records, while Dawson County has 10. The gap is 9% below that mean. Fewer entries indicate a quieter history of recorded federal actions, not immunity from a hazard and not a prediction about what happens next.
53 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Dawson County, MT · 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) Low
7/30
10 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
11/25
10 declarations (0.9x state county average of 11)
Major Disaster Share Very High
20/25
8 of 10 declarations are major disasters (80%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Dawson County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Dawson 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
80%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
64
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Dawson 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 | Relatively High | an average of 14 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 19 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 28 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 2.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,388 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.6 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 32 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | an average of 1 time per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 10,000 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 48 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 3
Biological 2
Severe Storm 2
Straight-Line Winds 1
Other 1
Hurricane 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Dawson County's record, 30% 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 - 8 80.0%
of all 10 declarations
Emergency - 2 20.0%
of all 10 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 10 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 10 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4902 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Straight-Line Winds | 2026-04-07 |
| 4608 | STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Other | 2021-08-13 |
| 4508 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-31 |
| 3476 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4172 | ICE JAMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2014-04-17 |
| 4127 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2013-07-10 |
| 1996 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-06-17 |
| 3253 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1183 | SEVERE STORMS,ICE JAMS, SNOW MELT, FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-07-25 |
| 761 | HEAVY RAINS, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-03-15 |
Storm Events in Montana
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Dawson County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind | 3,735 | 1 | 2 | $5.3M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 2,396 | 5 | 24 | $15.1M |
| Hail | 2,015 | 0 | 0 | $4.1M |
| Winter Storm | 1,502 | 13 | 18 | $11.2M |
| Heavy Snow | 796 | 5 | 3 | $143.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
7
Total Paid
$144.6K
Avg Per Claim
$20.7K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 63.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$21.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Ice Storm 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: 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 Dawson County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively 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
Dawson County's closest FEMA peer: Scotts Bluff County, NE
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Dawson County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Dawson County: NRI composite 63.8 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Dawson County: 8 of 10 of its declarations are Major.
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 Dawson County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Dawson 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: 63.8 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 10. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 10 FEMA declarations, Dawson 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 Dawson County?
The most common disaster type in Dawson County is Flood, with 3 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Severe Storm (2), Straight-Line Winds (1).
How does Dawson County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Montana average?
The typical Montana county has 11.0 FEMA declaration records; Dawson County has 10, or 9% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 52% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Dawson County received?
Dawson County has received 8 major disaster declarations, representing 80% of all 10 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Dawson County filed?
Dawson County has 7 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $144.6K in payments, with an average of $20.7K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Dawson County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Dawson County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1986 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Dawson County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Dawson County, Montana has an overall risk score of 63.8 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $21.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Dawson County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Dawson County is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Winter Weather (Relatively Moderate) and Lightning (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 14 times per year, drawn from 262 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 Dawson County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Montana profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events