FEMA Records
22
Above median
Iowa · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Fayette County, IA
22 FEMA disaster declarations (1968-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 22
- FEMA declarations
- 20
- Major disasters
- 51
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Fayette County. Its 22 FEMA declarations are 14% above the Iowa county mean and exceed the count for 57% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 49%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 49%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 22
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 94
- 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 19065 · Fayette County 22 declarations · rank 1350/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 22
- MAJOR-HEAVY 91%
- RANK-LOWER #1,350
- PHOTO-FINISH Hardy
- NRI-LOW 51
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-ABOVE +14%
Nearest declaration peer: Hardy, WV (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Iowa state profile
Fayette County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Fayette County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Fayette · this county 22
Fayette · 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 Fayette County carries 22 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1350 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Fayette County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Fayette County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Fayette 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
Fayette County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Fayette County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $7.9M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Drought 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 Fayette County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 94 paid claims, totaling $865.6K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $9.2K 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. Fayette County's 22 federal records stand 14% above the Iowa county mean of 19.3. 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 50.9/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $14.9M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Moderate social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Drought carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 14 modeled event-days per year here, based on 483 historical events on record.
66 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Fayette County, IA · 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 High
14/25
22 declarations (1.1x state county average of 19)
Major Disaster Share Very High
23/25
20 of 22 declarations are major disasters (91%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Fayette County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Fayette 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
91%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
51
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Fayette 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 14 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.4 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.5 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 18 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 8.2 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 4.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 39 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,912 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 7,813 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 10
Severe Storm 8
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Tornado 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Fayette County's record, 45% 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 - 20 90.9%
of all 22 declarations
Emergency - 2 9.1%
of all 22 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1968 | 2 | |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4483 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-23 |
| 3480 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4421 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-03-23 |
| 4334 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2017-08-27 |
| 4289 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-10-31 |
| 4281 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-09-29 |
| 4184 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2014-07-24 |
| 4126 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-07-02 |
| 1930 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-07-29 |
| 1763 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-05-27 |
| 1688 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-03-14 |
| 3239 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1518 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-05-25 |
| 1420 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2002-06-19 |
| 1282 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-07-22 |
| 1277 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-05-21 |
| 1230 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1998-07-02 |
| 996 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-07-09 |
| 911 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1991-07-12 |
| 879 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-09-06 |
Show 2 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 248 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1968-08-04 |
| 240 | TORNADOES & SEVERE STORMS | DR | Tornado | 1968-05-29 |
Storm Events in Iowa
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Fayette County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 4,928 | 6 | 227 | $40.5M |
| Hail | 3,736 | 0 | 0 | $4.3M |
| Heavy Rain | 2,394 | 0 | 0 | $292.0K |
| Drought | 1,556 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 1,543 | 3 | 4 | $2.8M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
94
Total Paid
$865.6K
Avg Per Claim
$9.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 50.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$14.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Lightning Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Wildfire 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: Drought
Drought is the slowest of the modeled hazards and the least visible: it does its damage to agriculture, water supply and soil over seasons rather than hours, so it rarely produces the kind of single-day damage that drives a disaster declaration. FEMA scores it in event-days per year rather than discrete events for exactly that reason.
Worth noting for Fayette County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), 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
Fayette County's closest FEMA peer: Johnson County, NE
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Fayette County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Fayette County shows 22 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Fayette County: 20 of 22 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Fayette County: NRI composite 50.9 (Relatively 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 Fayette County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Fayette 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: 50.9 (Relatively 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
Fayette County's NFIP claims file (94 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 Fayette County?
The most common disaster type in Fayette County is Flood, with 10 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (8), Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does Fayette County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Iowa average?
FEMA lists 22 declaration records for Fayette County. That is 14% above the Iowa county mean of 19.3. Its count is also 6% 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 Fayette County received?
Fayette County has received 20 major disaster declarations, representing 91% of all 22 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Fayette County filed?
Fayette County has 94 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $865.6K in payments, with an average of $9.2K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Fayette County?
No. In Fayette County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $7.9M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Fayette County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Fayette County was 1968, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1968 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Fayette County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Fayette County, Iowa has an overall risk score of 50.9 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $14.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Fayette County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Fayette County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Hail (Relatively Moderate) and Strong Wind (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 14 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 483 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 Fayette County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Iowa profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events