FEMA Records
28
High volume
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Fort Bend County, TX
28 FEMA disaster declarations (1983-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 28
- FEMA declarations
- 17
- Major disasters
- 97
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Fort Bend County. Its 28 FEMA declarations are 34% above the Texas county mean and exceed the count for 81% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 3%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 3%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 28
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 7,389
- 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 48157 · Fort Bend County 28 declarations · rank 582/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 28
- MAJOR-MID 61%
- RANK-MID #582
- PHOTO-FINISH Loíza
- NRI-HIGH 97
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-ABOVE +34%
Nearest declaration peer: Loíza, PR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
Fort Bend County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Fort Bend County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Fort Bend · this county 28
Fort Bend · this county
28 declarations
- Hertford · near 28
Hertford · near
28 declarations
- Loíza · near 28
Loíza · near
28 declarations
- Maunabo · near 28
Maunabo · near
28 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Fort Bend County carries 28 FEMA declaration records, ranked 582 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Fort Bend County ranks in the national declaration registry
Fort Bend County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Fort Bend County
28 Top 19% higher than 81% 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
Fort Bend County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Fort Bend County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $168.8M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Lightning 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 Fort Bend County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 7,389 claims and $450.9M 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 $61.0K. 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. Fort Bend County's 28 federal records stand 34% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. 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 97.5/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $346.2M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very Low and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Lightning stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 74 times per year here, based on 730,017 historical events on record.
70 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Fort Bend County, TX · 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
28 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.4x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
17/25
28 declarations (1.3x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
17 of 28 declarations are major disasters (61%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Fort Bend County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Fort Bend 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
61%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
97
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Fort Bend 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 74 times per year |
| Tornado | Very High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively High | 14 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 6 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 26 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 622 years |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2,155 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 83 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 12
Flood 5
Severe Storm 3
Fire 3
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Fort Bend County's federal record, 43% 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 - 17 60.7%
of all 28 declarations
Emergency - 10 35.7%
of all 28 declarations
Fire Management - 1 3.6%
of all 28 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 3 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 28 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 28 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4798 | HURRICANE BERYL | DR | Hurricane | 2024-07-09 |
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 3540 | TROPICAL STORMS MARCO AND LAURA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-24 |
| 3530 | HURRICANE HANNA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-07-26 |
| 4485 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3458 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4332 | HURRICANE HARVEY | DR | Hurricane | 2017-08-25 |
| 4272 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-06-11 |
| 4269 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-04-25 |
| 4223 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-29 |
| 1791 | HURRICANE IKE | DR | Hurricane | 2008-09-13 |
| 3294 | HURRICANE IKE | EM | Hurricane | 2008-09-10 |
| 3290 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-29 |
| 3277 | HURRICANE DEAN | EM | Hurricane | 2007-08-18 |
| 2639 | LAKE OLYMPIA FIRE | FM | Fire | 2006-05-26 |
| 1624 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-11 |
| 1606 | HURRICANE RITA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-09-24 |
| 3261 | HURRICANE RITA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-21 |
| 3216 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-02 |
Show 8 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1439 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-11-05 |
| 1379 | TX-TROPICAL STORM ALLISON-06-06-2001 | DR | Coastal Storm | 2001-06-09 |
| 3142 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARDS | EM | Fire | 1999-09-01 |
| 1257 | TX-FLOODING 10/18/98 | DR | Flood | 1998-10-21 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 1041 | SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1994-10-18 |
| 930 | SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS | DR | Flood | 1991-12-26 |
| 689 | HURRICANE ALICIA | DR | Hurricane | 1983-08-19 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Fort Bend County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 14,072 | 0 | 15 | $7.4B |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 10,293 | 41 | 141 | $369.9M |
| Drought | 7,032 | 0 | 0 | $86.0K |
| Flash Flood | 4,728 | 338 | 24 | $47.6B |
| Heat | 4,079 | 119 | 405 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
7,389
Total Paid
$450.9M
Avg Per Claim
$61.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 97.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$346.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Lightning Very High
Tornado Very High
Heat Wave Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Ice Storm Relatively High
Drought Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding 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: Lightning
Lightning is modeled as a high-frequency, low-per-event hazard: strike counts are large, but each strike affects a very small area. Its aggregate cost accumulates through structure fires, electrical and electronic damage, and it is one of the few hazards whose risk is essentially continuous through the season rather than episodic.
Worth noting for Fort Bend County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Lightning carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. 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
Fort Bend County's closest FEMA peer: Barbour County, AL
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Fort Bend County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Fort Bend County shows 28 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Fort Bend County: 17 of 28 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Fort Bend County: NRI composite 97.5 (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 Fort Bend County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Fort Bend 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: 97.5 (Relatively High).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 28. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Fort Bend County's NFIP claims file (7,389 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 Fort Bend County?
The most common disaster type in Fort Bend County is Hurricane, with 12 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (5), Severe Storm (3), Fire (3).
How does Fort Bend County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
FEMA lists 28 declaration records for Fort Bend County. That is 34% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. Its count is also 35% 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 Fort Bend County received?
Fort Bend County has received 17 major disaster declarations, representing 61% of all 28 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Fort Bend County filed?
Fort Bend County has 7,389 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $450.9M in payments, with an average of $61.0K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Fort Bend County?
No. In Fort Bend County, Lightning has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $168.8M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Fort Bend County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Fort Bend County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1983 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Fort Bend County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Fort Bend County, Texas has an overall risk score of 97.5 out of 100 (Relatively High). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very Low and community resilience is Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $346.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Fort Bend County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Fort Bend County as of the latest release is Lightning (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Tornado (Very High) and Heat Wave (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts lightning here at an average of 74 times per year, drawn from 730,017 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 Fort Bend County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events