FEMA Records
12
Low volume
Wisconsin · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Fond du Lac County, WI
12 FEMA disaster declarations (1974-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 12
- FEMA declarations
- 9
- Major disasters
- 76
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Fond du Lac County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 12 declarations, more than 14% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 3% below the Wisconsin county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 24%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 24%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 12
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 523
- 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.
How does Fond du Lac County compare?
Fond du Lac County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
12 14th percentile higher than 14% 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 · 2026-08-03
Fond du Lac County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Wisconsin county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Fond du Lac County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $19.5M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Hail 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 Fond du Lac County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 523 claims and $7.4M 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 $14.2K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
Start with the state benchmark: a Wisconsin county averages 12.3 federal declaration records, while Fond du Lac County has 12. The gap is 3% 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 sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 76.3/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $44.1M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very Low and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Hail carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 3.3 times per year here, based on 124 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
Nationally, Fond du Lac County's 12 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within Wisconsin, however, the count is 3% below the county mean. 9 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Flood, appearing 4 times. The full 46-year record averages 0.3 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
55 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Fond du Lac County, WI · 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
9/30
12 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.6x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
12 declarations (1.0x state county average of 12)
Major Disaster Share Very High
19/25
9 of 12 declarations are major disasters (75%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Fond du Lac County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Wisconsin Avg
-3%
State avg: 12.3
vs. National Avg
-42%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.3
Over 46 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Fond du Lac 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
75%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
76
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Fond du Lac 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.3 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 5.8 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 3.4 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 2.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 15 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 34 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 9 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 3,127 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,066 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 0.3 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | 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
Flood 4
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Drought 1
Tornado 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Fond du Lac County's record, 33% 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 - 9 75.0%
of all 12 declarations
Emergency - 3 25.0%
of all 12 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 2 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 12 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 12 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4520 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3454 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4402 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2018-10-18 |
| 1768 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-06-14 |
| 3249 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1526 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-06-18 |
| 1131 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING AND TORNADOES | DR | Flood | 1996-08-02 |
| 994 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1993-07-02 |
| 775 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-10-07 |
| 3014 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-06-17 |
| 496 | SEVERE STORMS, ICING, WIND & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1976-03-23 |
| 431 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1974-04-26 |
Storm Events in Wisconsin
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Fond du Lac County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 3,504 | 5 | 23 | $45.0M |
| Hail | 2,620 | 0 | 0 | $57.8M |
| Winter Weather | 1,939 | 43 | 152 | $2.1M |
| Winter Storm | 1,338 | 15 | 86 | $2.3M |
| Flood | 740 | 12 | 4 | $115.6M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
523
Total Paid
$7.4M
Avg Per Claim
$14.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 76.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$44.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Drought Very Low
Hurricane 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: Hail
Hail is among the most expensive hazards in the model relative to how little it threatens life. It concentrates on roofs, vehicles and crops, and a single severe storm can generate an insurance loss across a metropolitan area without a single injury.
Worth noting for Fond du Lac County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Hail 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
Fond du Lac County's closest FEMA peer: Wilson County, NC
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Fond du Lac County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Fond du Lac County: NRI composite 76.3 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Fond du Lac County: 9 of 12 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Fond du Lac County shows 12 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
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 Fond du Lac County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Fond du Lac County's NFIP claims file (523 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Fond du Lac County?
The most common disaster type in Fond du Lac County is Flood, with 4 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (3), Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does Fond du Lac County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Wisconsin average?
The typical Wisconsin county has 12.3 FEMA declaration records; Fond du Lac County has 12, or 3% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 42% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Fond du Lac County received?
Fond du Lac County has received 9 major disaster declarations, representing 75% of all 12 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Fond du Lac County filed?
Fond du Lac County has 523 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $7.4M in payments, with an average of $14.2K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Fond du Lac County?
No. In Fond du Lac County, Hail has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $19.5M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Fond du Lac County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Fond du Lac County was 1976, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1974 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Fond du Lac County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin has an overall risk score of 76.3 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very Low and community resilience is Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $44.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Fond du Lac County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Fond du Lac County as of the latest release is Hail (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively High) and Tornado (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 3.3 times per year, drawn from 124 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.
What this means for Fond du Lac County
Against a Wisconsin county mean of 12 declarations, Fond du Lac County, WI records 12, or 3% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (9 of 12) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Wisconsin overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 14% of recorded county totals, but its own Wisconsin benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. Most-disaster rankings
- The large NFIP claims file and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records; the guide explains where they overlap and where they do not. Disaster-data guide
A below-average federal record is not a safety guarantee. Use National Weather Service alerts and local emergency-management notices for present conditions, not this historical comparison.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.