FEMA Records
19
Below median
Washington · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Douglas County, WA
19 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 19
- FEMA declarations
- 7
- Major disasters
- 74
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Douglas County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 19 declarations, more than 41% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 24% below the Washington county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 26%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 26%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 19
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 4
- 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 53017 · Douglas County 19 declarations · rank 1910/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 19
- MAJOR-LIGHT 37%
- RANK-LOWER #1,910
- PHOTO-FINISH Bartow
- NRI-LOW 74
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-BELOW -24%
Nearest declaration peer: Bartow, GA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Washington state profile
Douglas County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Douglas County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Bartow · near 19
Bartow · near
19 declarations
- Douglas · this county 19
Douglas · this county
19 declarations
- Union · near 19
Union · near
19 declarations
- Warren · near 19
Warren · near
19 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Douglas County carries 19 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1910 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Douglas County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Douglas County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Douglas County
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 · 2026-08-25
Douglas County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Douglas County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $17.7M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), while Wildfire carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 Douglas County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 74.1/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $26.9M in annualized losses), and a Relatively High social-vulnerability profile combined with Very Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Wildfire carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 84 years here.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 4 claims and $50.0K 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 Washington county averages 24.9 federal declaration records, while Douglas County has 19. The gap is 24% 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
Douglas County, WA · 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 Moderate
10/25
19 declarations (0.8x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
9/25
7 of 19 declarations are major disasters (37%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Douglas County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Douglas 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
37%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
74
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Douglas 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 84 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 81 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 169 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 4.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 15 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | roughly once every 9 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 11 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 15 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 9 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 19 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 10
Biological 2
Flood 2
Coastal Storm 1
Earthquake 1
Severe Storm 1
Volcanic Eruption 1
Drought 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Douglas County's record, 53% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
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).
Fire Management - 8 42.1%
of all 19 declarations
Major Disaster - 7 36.8%
of all 19 declarations
Emergency - 4 21.1%
of all 19 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2018 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 2 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4584 | WILDFIRES AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Fire | 2021-02-04 |
| 5351 | COLD SPRINGS/PEARL HILL FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-09-07 |
| 5320 | ROAD 11 FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-07-12 |
| 4481 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-22 |
| 3427 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5271 | GRASS VALLEY FIRE | FM | Fire | 2018-08-12 |
| 5261 | CHELAN HILLS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2018-07-28 |
| 3372 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2015-08-21 |
| 5100 | CHELAN FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2015-08-14 |
| 5013 | BARKER CANYON FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-09-09 |
| 2784 | BADGER MOUNTAIN FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2008-07-11 |
| 3227 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-07 |
| 2527 | WA-BEEBE FIRE-07-04-2004 | FM | Fire | 2004-07-06 |
| 1361 | EARTHQUAKE | DR | Earthquake | 2001-03-01 |
| 1159 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, LAND & MUDS SLIDES,FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-17 |
| 822 | HEAVY RAINS, FLOODING & MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 1989-04-14 |
| 623 | VOLCANIC ERUPTION, MT. ST. HELENS | DR | Volcanic Eruption | 1980-05-21 |
| 3037 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-03-31 |
| 334 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-06-10 |
Storm Events in Washington
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Douglas County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Snow | 1,700 | 5 | 7 | $2.3M |
| High Wind | 614 | 15 | 6 | $1.1B |
| Wildfire | 299 | 4 | 4 | $1.8B |
| Winter Weather | 259 | 9 | 62 | $1.1M |
| Flood | 231 | 4 | 0 | $391.2M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
4
Total Paid
$50.0K
Avg Per Claim
$12.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 74.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$26.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Drought Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Tornado 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: Wildfire
Wildfire risk in the model reflects fuel, terrain, weather and how much development sits in the wildland-urban interface. It is one of the few hazards where the exposure is materially changed by land management and building choices, not only by where the county happens to be.
For Douglas County the two measures on this page point the same way: Wildfire is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), and Fire declarations also lead its federal record. Where the model and the declaration history agree, the reading is comparatively straightforward, the hazard is both expected and repeatedly realised.
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
Douglas County's closest FEMA peer: Weakley County, TN
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Douglas County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Douglas County: NRI composite 74.1 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Douglas County: 7 of 19 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Douglas County shows 19 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
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 Douglas County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Douglas 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: 74.1 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 19. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 19 FEMA declarations, Douglas 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 Douglas County?
The most common disaster type in Douglas County is Fire, with 10 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Flood (2), Coastal Storm (1).
How does Douglas County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Washington average?
The typical Washington county has 24.9 FEMA declaration records; Douglas County has 19, or 24% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 8% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Douglas County received?
Douglas County has received 7 major disaster declarations, representing 37% of all 19 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Douglas County filed?
Douglas County has 4 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $50.0K in payments, with an average of $12.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Douglas County?
No. In Douglas County, Wildfire has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $17.7M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Douglas County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Douglas County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Douglas County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Douglas County, Washington has an overall risk score of 74.1 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively High and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $26.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Douglas County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Douglas County as of the latest release is Wildfire (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Volcanic Activity (Very Low) and Cold Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts wildfire here at roughly once every 84 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 Douglas County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Washington profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events