FEMA Records
27
High volume
New York · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Erie County, NY
27 FEMA disaster declarations (1976-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Snowstorm.
- 27
- FEMA declarations
- 14
- Major disasters
- 98
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Snowstorm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Erie County. Its 27 FEMA declarations are 10% above the New York county mean and exceed the count for 78% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 2%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 2%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 27
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 2,483
- 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 36029 · Erie County 27 declarations · rank 640/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 27
- MAJOR-MID 52%
- RANK-MID #640
- PHOTO-FINISH Greene
- NRI-HIGH 98
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Snowstorm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +10%
Nearest declaration peer: Greene, MO (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · New York state profile
Erie County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Erie County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Coal · near 27
Coal · near
27 declarations
- Erie · this county 27
Erie · this county
27 declarations
- Greene · near 27
Greene · near
27 declarations
- Warren · near 27
Warren · near
27 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Erie County carries 27 FEMA declaration records, ranked 640 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Erie County ranks in the national declaration registry
Erie County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Erie County
27 Top 22% higher than 78% 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
Erie County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Erie County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $205.3M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Cold Wave 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 Erie County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 2,483 claims and $12.8M 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 $5.2K. 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. Erie County's 27 federal records stand 10% above the New York county mean of 24.5. 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 97.7/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $286.0M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Cold Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 4.9 times per year here, based on 90 historical events on record.
67 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Erie County, NY · 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
20/30
27 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
27 declarations (1.1x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
14 of 27 declarations are major disasters (52%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Erie County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Erie 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
52%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
98
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Erie 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 | Very High | an average of 4.9 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very High | an average of 45 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 3.6 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 7 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 2.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | an average of 2.7 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 32 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1,235 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 34 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 38,899 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 71 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 0.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Snowstorm 11
Severe Storm 6
Winter Storm 2
Biological 2
Hurricane 2
Other 2
Fire 1
Severe Ice Storm 1
What Snowstorm declarations mean here
Snowstorm is the most frequent declaration type on Erie County's record, 41% of its declarations. Snow-related declarations work on a narrower basis than most other hazards: they are generally issued to reimburse the cost of snow removal and emergency protective measures, rather than to repair destroyed property.
The qualifying test is unusual too. FEMA assesses snowfall against record levels for the affected area, so the same storm total can qualify in a county where it is historically extreme and not qualify a few hundred miles north where it is an ordinary winter. A low snowstorm declaration count is therefore not evidence of mild winters.
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 - 14 51.9%
of all 27 declarations
Emergency - 13 48.1%
of all 27 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 3 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1985 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 2 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 27 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 27 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4694 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2023-03-15 |
| 3590 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2022-12-26 |
| 3589 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2022-11-20 |
| 4480 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-20 |
| 3434 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4472 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-12-19 |
| 4204 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND FLOODING | DR | Snowstorm | 2014-12-22 |
| 3351 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 1857 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-09-01 |
| 1665 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-10-24 |
| 3268 | LAKE EFFECT SNOWSTORM | EM | Snowstorm | 2006-10-15 |
| 3262 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-30 |
| 1534 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-08-03 |
| 3186 | POWER OUTAGE | EM | Other | 2003-08-23 |
| 1404 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2002-03-01 |
| 3170 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2001-12-31 |
| 1391 | FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS | DR | Fire | 2001-09-11 |
| 3157 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2000-12-04 |
| 3155 | WEST NILE VIRUS | EM | Other | 2000-10-11 |
| 1335 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-07-21 |
Show 7 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3136 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 1999-01-15 |
| 1233 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-07-07 |
| 3107 | SEVERE BLIZZARD | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 734 | SNOW MELT & ICE JAMS | DR | Snowstorm | 1985-03-22 |
| 527 | SNOWSTORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 1977-02-05 |
| 3027 | SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-01-29 |
| 494 | ICE STORM,SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 1976-03-19 |
Storm Events in New York
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Erie County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 8,295 | 6 | 45 | $45.0M |
| Winter Weather | 2,261 | 7 | 17 | $705.5K |
| Flash Flood | 1,775 | 23 | 3 | $674.3M |
| Strong Wind | 1,399 | 2 | 12 | $9.2M |
| Winter Storm | 1,228 | 13 | 2 | $4.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
2,483
Total Paid
$12.8M
Avg Per Claim
$5.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 97.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$286.0M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Very High
Winter Weather Very High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Tornado Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Coastal Flooding Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Avalanche 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.
For Erie County the two measures on this page point the same way: Cold Wave is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Very High), and Snowstorm 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
Erie County's closest FEMA peer: Washington County, AL
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Erie County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Erie County shows 27 FEMA declarations, led by Snowstorm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Erie County: 14 of 27 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Erie County: NRI composite 97.7 (Relatively High).
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 Erie County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Erie 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: 97.7 (Relatively High).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 27. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Erie County's NFIP claims file (2,483 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 Erie County?
The most common disaster type in Erie County is Snowstorm, with 11 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (6), Winter Storm (2), Biological (2).
How does Erie County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New York average?
FEMA lists 27 declaration records for Erie County. That is 10% above the New York county mean of 24.5. Its count is also 30% 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 Erie County received?
Erie County has received 14 major disaster declarations, representing 52% of all 27 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Erie County filed?
Erie County has 2,483 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $12.8M in payments, with an average of $5.2K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Erie County?
No. In Erie County, Cold Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $205.3M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Erie County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Erie County was 2001, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1976 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Erie County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Erie County, New York has an overall risk score of 97.7 out of 100 (Relatively High). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $286.0M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Erie County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Erie County as of the latest release is Cold Wave (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Winter Weather (Very High) and Riverine Flooding (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 4.9 times per year, drawn from 90 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 Erie County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · New York profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events