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Nebraska · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index

Franklin County, NE

10 FEMA disaster declarations (1967-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.

10
FEMA declarations
8
Major disasters
32
NRI risk · Very Low
Severe Storm
Top hazard

The verdict

Franklin County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 10 declarations, more than 10% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 40% below the Nebraska county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 32%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.

Safer than 32%
of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
Very Low
FEMA National Risk Index rating
10
FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
2
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.

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How does Franklin County compare?

Franklin County vs. all counties in this dataset

FEMA disaster declarations, all-time

10 10th percentile higher than 10% of 3,266 counties

This county 0 90 all U.S. counties FEMA tracks, bucketed by value

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

Franklin County's FEMA Risk Index score

FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Nebraska county average

0/100100/100Nebraska avg26/10032.2/100
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Nebraska county average

What does Franklin County's hazard record show?

FEMA National Risk Index

FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 32.2/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $8.9M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively Moderate) and community resilience (Relatively Low) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hail stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 7.3 times per year here, based on 277 historical events on record.

Declaration frequency

Nationally, Franklin County's 10 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within Nebraska, however, the count is 40% below the county mean. 8 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Severe Storm, appearing 4 times. The full 53-year record averages 0.2 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.

Reading the federal records together

This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 2 claims and $1.9K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.

Start with the state benchmark: a Nebraska county averages 16.8 federal declaration records, while Franklin County has 10. The gap is 40% 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.

44 /100

Historical Activity Index

Moderate historical activity

Franklin County, NE · 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) Low
7/30

10 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.5x national county average)

County Disaster Density Moderate
7/25

10 declarations (0.6x state county average of 17)

Major Disaster Share Very High
20/25

8 of 10 declarations are major disasters (80%)

Hazard Diversity High
10/20

4 different disaster types declared in Franklin County

Historical Declaration Activity

Activity Band

High

vs. Nebraska Avg

-40%

State avg: 16.8

vs. National Avg

-52%

National avg: 20.7

Avg Per Year

0.2

Over 53 years

FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Franklin County

Franklin County NRI risk profile 8-axis FEMA National Risk Index radar showing per-hazard scores for Earthquake 8, Flood 8, Hurricane 0, Tornado 25, Wildfire 8, Drought 48, Heat Wave 8, Winter Storm 48. The simple mean of these eight displayed scores is 19 of 100. Earthquake Flood Hurricane Tornado Wildfire Drought Heat Wave Winter Storm 19 8-hazard mean
Franklin County NRI risk profile FIPS 31061 · displayed-hazard mean 19/100
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.

FEMA Records

10

Low volume

Major Disaster share

80%

Mostly major

NRI risk score

32

Very Low

Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release

How often does each hazard strike Franklin 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 High an average of 7.3 times per year
Strong Wind Relatively High an average of 4.2 times per year
Drought Relatively Moderate 45 modeled event-days per year
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate roughly once every 2 years
Winter Weather Relatively Low an average of 13 times per year
Lightning Relatively Low an average of 44 times per year
Wildfire Very Low roughly once every 1,912 years
Tornado Relatively Low roughly once every 2 years
Heat Wave Very Low 5.6 modeled event-days per year
Landslide Very Low roughly once every 4 years
Riverine Flooding Very Low roughly once every 4 years
Cold Wave Very Low an average of 3.7 times per year
Earthquake Very Low roughly once every 2,217 years

Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release

Disaster Types

Severe Storm 4
Flood 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1

What Severe Storm declarations mean here

Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Franklin County's record, 40% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.

These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.

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 - 8 80.0%

of all 10 declarations

Emergency - 2 20.0%

of all 10 declarations

FEMA Declarations Timeline

Year Declarations
2020 2
2019 1
2014 1
2007 1
2005 1
2004 1
1998 1
1993 1
1967 1

Disaster Declarations

How the 10 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.

Download these 10 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.

DR# Title Type Incident Date
4521 COVID-19 PANDEMIC DR Biological 2020-04-04
3483 COVID-19 EM Biological 2020-03-13
4420 SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING DR Flood 2019-03-21
4183 SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING DR Severe Storm 2014-07-24
1674 SEVERE WINTER STORMS DR Severe Storm 2007-01-07
3245 HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUEES EM Hurricane 2005-09-13
1517 SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING DR Severe Storm 2004-05-25
1190 SEVERE SNOW STORMS, RAIN, AND STRONG WINDS DR Severe Storm 1997-11-01
998 SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING DR Flood 1993-07-19
228 SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING DR Flood 1967-07-18

Storm Events in Nebraska

Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Franklin County.

Storm Type Events Fatalities Injuries Property Damage
Hail 6,079 0 2 $237.7M
Thunderstorm Wind 4,757 3 19 $228.1M
Drought 1,658 0 0 $0
High Wind 1,647 1 1 $22.1M
Winter Storm 1,155 0 2 $335.0K

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025

NFIP Flood Insurance Claims

Total Claims

2

Total Paid

$1.9K

Avg Per Claim

$929

Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data

FEMA National Risk Index

Overall Risk

Very Low

Score: 32.2/100

Expected Annual Loss

Very Low

$8.9M/year

Social Vulnerability

Relatively Moderate

Community Resilience

Relatively Low

Hazard Risk Breakdown

Hail Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Drought Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Earthquake 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.

For Franklin County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hail is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Severe Storm 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

Franklin County's closest FEMA peer: Dawson County, MT

Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Franklin County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.

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 Franklin County - capture-dated entries only.

Further reading for this county

Most disaster-prone counties

With 10 FEMA declarations, Franklin County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
More PlainHazard guides

Related

Nebraska State Profile All Counties Most Disasters All Hazard Types

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common disaster type in Franklin County?
The most common disaster type in Franklin County is Severe Storm, with 4 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (3), Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does Franklin County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Nebraska average?
The typical Nebraska county has 16.8 FEMA declaration records; Franklin County has 10, or 40% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 52% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Franklin County received?
Franklin County has received 8 major disaster declarations, representing 80% of all 10 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Franklin County filed?
Franklin County has 2 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.9K in payments, with an average of $929 per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Franklin County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Franklin County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1967 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Franklin County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Franklin County, Nebraska has an overall risk score of 32.2 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $8.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Franklin County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Franklin County is Hail (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Strong Wind (Relatively High) and Drought (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 7.3 times per year, drawn from 277 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 Franklin County

Against a Nebraska county mean of 17 declarations, Franklin County, NE records 10, or 40% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.

  • Major Disaster is the largest group (8 of 10) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Nebraska overview
  • Nationally the county exceeds 10% of recorded county totals, but its own Nebraska benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. Most-disaster rankings
  • A short NFIP claims file cannot establish low flood exposure; the data guide explains the limits of each federal measure. 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
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.