FEMA Records
22
Above median
Massachusetts · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Dukes County, MA
22 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 22
- FEMA declarations
- 13
- Major disasters
- 17
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Dukes County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 22 declarations, more than 57% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 24% below the Massachusetts county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 17%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 17%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 22
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 160
- 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 25007 · Dukes County 22 declarations · rank 1381/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 22
- MAJOR-MID 59%
- RANK-LOWER #1,381
- PHOTO-FINISH Hardy
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -24%
Nearest declaration peer: Hardy, WV (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Massachusetts state profile
Dukes County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Dukes County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Dukes · this county 22
Dukes · 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 Dukes County carries 22 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1381 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Dukes County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Dukes County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Dukes 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
Dukes County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Dukes County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $4.2M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Hurricane carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low). 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 Dukes County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 160 paid claims, totaling $1.7M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $10.9K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Massachusetts county averages 28.8 federal declaration records, while Dukes County has 22. 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county's FEMA National Risk Index composite lands at 16.8/100 (Very Low), a modest reading against the rest of the country. Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $7.3M in annualized losses), tempered or compounded by a Relatively Low social-vulnerability score and Very High community-resilience score. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Hurricane, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 6 years here, based on 50 historical events on record.
59 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Dukes County, MA · 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 Moderate
10/25
22 declarations (0.8x state county average of 29)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
13 of 22 declarations are major disasters (59%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Dukes County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Dukes 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
59%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
17
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Dukes 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 975 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 27,492 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 2.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 60 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 16 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 24 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 6.7 times per year |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 9
Snowstorm 4
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 2
Flood 1
Fishing Losses 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Dukes County's federal record, 41% 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 - 13 59.1%
of all 22 declarations
Emergency - 9 40.9%
of all 22 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 3 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 2 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
Show 1 earlier declaration years
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3599 | HURRICANE LEE | EM | Hurricane | 2023-09-15 |
| 4496 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-27 |
| 3438 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4214 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-04-13 |
| 4110 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-04-19 |
| 4097 | HURRICANE SANDY | DR | Hurricane | 2012-12-19 |
| 3350 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 4028 | TROPICAL STORM IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-09-03 |
| 3330 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-26 |
| 3315 | HURRICANE EARL | EM | Hurricane | 2010-09-02 |
| 1701 | SEVERE STORMS AND INLAND AND COASTAL FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-05-16 |
| 3252 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 3201 | RECORD AND/OR NEAR RECORD SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2005-02-17 |
| 3175 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2003-03-11 |
| 1090 | BLIZZARD OF 96 | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-24 |
| 3103 | BLIZZARDS, HIGH WINDS & RECORD SNOWFALL | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-16 |
| 975 | WINTER COASTAL STORM | DR | Coastal Storm | 1992-12-21 |
| 920 | COASTAL STORM | DR | Coastal Storm | 1991-11-04 |
| 914 | HURRICANE BOB | DR | Hurricane | 1991-08-26 |
| 751 | HURRICANE GLORIA | DR | Hurricane | 1985-10-28 |
Show 2 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 546 | COASTAL STORMS, FLOOD, ICE & SNOW | DR | Flood | 1978-02-10 |
| 357 | TOXIC ALGAE IN COASTAL WATERS | DR | Fishing Losses | 1972-09-28 |
Storm Events in Massachusetts
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Dukes County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 2,101 | 2 | 7 | $13.2M |
| Strong Wind | 1,019 | 4 | 8 | $3.2M |
| High Wind | 722 | 3 | 10 | $10.8M |
| Flood | 563 | 0 | 0 | $4.0M |
| Winter Weather | 390 | 1 | 14 | $1.4M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
160
Total Paid
$1.7M
Avg Per Claim
$10.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 16.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$7.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Drought Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Lightning Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Winter Weather 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: Hurricane
Hurricane exposure in the model bundles the three ways a tropical system does harm, which arrive on different timescales and are insured differently: wind, storm surge on the coast, and rainfall flooding that can reach far inland well after landfall.
For Dukes County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Low), and Hurricane 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
Dukes County's closest FEMA peer: Limestone County, AL
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Dukes County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Dukes County shows 22 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Dukes County: 13 of 22 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Dukes County: NRI composite 16.8 (Very Low).
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 Dukes County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Dukes 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: 16.8 (Very Low).
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
Dukes County's NFIP claims file (160 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 Dukes County?
The most common disaster type in Dukes County is Hurricane, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Snowstorm (4), Severe Storm (3), Biological (2).
How does Dukes County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Massachusetts average?
The typical Massachusetts county has 28.8 FEMA declaration records; Dukes County has 22, or 24% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 6% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Dukes County received?
Dukes County has received 13 major disaster declarations, representing 59% of all 22 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Dukes County filed?
Dukes County has 160 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.7M in payments, with an average of $10.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Dukes County?
No. In Dukes County, Hurricane has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $4.2M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Dukes County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Dukes County was 2013, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Dukes County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Dukes County, Massachusetts has an overall risk score of 16.8 out of 100 (Very Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $7.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Dukes County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Dukes County as of the latest release is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Coastal Flooding (Relatively Low) and Earthquake (Very Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 6 years, drawn from 50 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Dukes County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Massachusetts profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events