FEMA Records
31
High volume
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Galveston County, TX
31 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 31
- FEMA declarations
- 20
- Major disasters
- 95
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Galveston County. Its 31 FEMA declarations are 48% above the Texas county mean and exceed the count for 88% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 5%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 5%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 31
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 60,618
- 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 Galveston County compare?
Galveston County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
31 Top 12% higher than 88% 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
Galveston County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Texas county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Galveston County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $63.0M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very Low), 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 Galveston County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 60,618 claims and $2.5B 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 $40.7K. 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. Galveston County's 31 federal records stand 48% 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 95.4/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $198.0M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low 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 roughly once every 2 years here, based on 5 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 31 entries for Galveston County, including 20 Major Disaster records, 48% above the Texas county mean. Across the 51-year span, that works out to 0.6 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 14 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
75 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Galveston 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
22/30
31 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density Very High
19/25
31 declarations (1.5x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
16/25
20 of 31 declarations are major disasters (65%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Galveston County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Texas Avg
+48%
State avg: 20.9
vs. National Avg
+50%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.6
Over 51 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Galveston 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
65%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
95
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Galveston 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 | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 70 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 4 years |
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Drought | Relatively High | 21 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 2.9 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 15 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 3.8 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 229 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,869 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 29 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 14
Flood 5
Severe Storm 3
Fire 3
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 2
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Galveston County's federal record, 45% 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 - 20 64.5%
of all 31 declarations
Emergency - 11 35.5%
of all 31 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 4 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 2 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1983 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 2 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 31 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 31 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 |
| 4572 | HURRICANE LAURA | DR | Hurricane | 2020-12-09 |
| 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 |
| 4245 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-11-25 |
| 1791 | HURRICANE IKE | DR | Hurricane | 2008-09-13 |
| 3294 | HURRICANE IKE | EM | Hurricane | 2008-09-10 |
| 3290 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-29 |
| 3284 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-03-14 |
| 3277 | HURRICANE DEAN | EM | Hurricane | 2007-08-18 |
| 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 |
| 1479 | HURRICANE CLAUDETTE | DR | Hurricane | 2003-07-17 |
Show 11 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1434 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | DR | Coastal Storm | 2002-09-26 |
| 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 |
| 1245 | HURRICANE GEORGES - TEXAS | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-09-23 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 1041 | SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1994-10-18 |
| 689 | HURRICANE ALICIA | DR | Hurricane | 1983-08-19 |
| 603 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1979-09-25 |
| 595 | STORMS & FLASH FLOODS | DR | Flood | 1979-07-28 |
| 398 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-07-11 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Galveston 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
60,618
Total Paid
$2.5B
Avg Per Claim
$40.7K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 95.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$198.0M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Very High
Lightning Very High
Hurricane Relatively High
Tornado Relatively High
Drought Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively High
Coastal Flooding Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Winter Weather 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.
Worth noting for Galveston County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave 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
Galveston County's closest FEMA peer: Chenango County, NY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Galveston County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Galveston County shows 31 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Galveston County: 20 of 31 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Galveston County: NRI composite 95.4 (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 Galveston County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Galveston County's NFIP claims file (60,618 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 Galveston County?
The most common disaster type in Galveston County is Hurricane, with 14 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (5), Severe Storm (3), Fire (3).
How does Galveston County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
FEMA lists 31 declaration records for Galveston County. That is 48% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. Its count is also 50% 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 Galveston County received?
Galveston County has received 20 major disaster declarations, representing 65% of all 31 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Galveston County filed?
Galveston County has 60,618 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $2.5B in payments, with an average of $40.7K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Galveston County?
No. In Galveston County, Cold Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $63.0M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Galveston County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Galveston County was 2008, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Galveston County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Galveston County, Texas has an overall risk score of 95.4 out of 100 (Relatively High). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Low and community resilience is Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $198.0M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Galveston County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Galveston County as of the latest release is Cold Wave (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Very High) and Hurricane (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at roughly once every 2 years, drawn from 5 historical events on record. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, 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 Galveston County
Galveston County, TX has 31 federal declaration records, 48% more than the Texas county mean of 21; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 20 of 31 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Texas overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Texas mean and the totals for 88% of 3,266 U.S. counties. 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
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
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.