FEMA Records
12
Low volume
Colorado · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Garfield County, CO
12 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 12
- FEMA declarations
- 3
- Major disasters
- 65
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Garfield County. Its 12 FEMA declarations are 18% above the Colorado county mean and exceed the count for 14% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 35%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 35%
- 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
- 30
- 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 08045 · Garfield County 12 declarations · rank 2779/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-MID 12
- MAJOR-LIGHT 25%
- RANK-LOWER #2,779
- PHOTO-FINISH Johnson
- NRI-LOW 65
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-ABOVE +18%
Nearest declaration peer: Johnson, KS (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Colorado state profile
Garfield County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Garfield County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Crane · near 12
Crane · near
12 declarations
- Garfield · this county 12
Garfield · this county
12 declarations
- Johnson · near 12
Johnson · near
12 declarations
- Seward · near 12
Seward · near
12 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Garfield County carries 12 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2779 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Garfield County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Garfield County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Garfield County
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 · 2026-08-25
Garfield County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Garfield County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $21.5M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Landslide carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively 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 Garfield County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 64.5/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $29.6M in annualized losses), and a Very Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Very Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Landslide stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 3.9 times per year here.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 30 claims and $93.7K 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.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Garfield County's 12 federal records stand 18% above the Colorado county mean of 10.2. 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.
43 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Garfield County, CO · 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 High
15/25
12 declarations (1.2x state county average of 10)
Major Disaster Share Low
6/25
3 of 12 declarations are major disasters (25%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Garfield County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Garfield 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
25%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
65
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Garfield 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively High | an average of 3.9 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 490 years |
| Avalanche | Relatively High | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 56 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 914 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 10,000 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 67 modeled event-days per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 21 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 35 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 12 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 7
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 1
Flood 1
Drought 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Garfield County's record, 58% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
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).
Fire Management - 6 50.0%
of all 12 declarations
Major Disaster - 3 25.0%
of all 12 declarations
Emergency - 3 25.0%
of all 12 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 3 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5334 | GRIZZLY CREEK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-08-19 |
| 5335 | PINE GULCH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-08-19 |
| 4498 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-28 |
| 3436 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 2698 | NEWCASTLE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2007-06-19 |
| 2672 | RED APPLE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2006-09-01 |
| 3224 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-05 |
| 2457 | CO - PANORAMA FIRE - 07/31/02 | FM | Fire | 2002-07-31 |
| 1421 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2002-06-19 |
| 2419 | COAL SEAM FIRE | FM | Fire | 2002-06-08 |
| 719 | SEVERE STORMS, MUDSLIDES, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-07-27 |
| 3025 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-29 |
Storm Events in Colorado
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Garfield County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 4,913 | 0 | 100 | $2.9B |
| Winter Weather | 2,620 | 3 | 23 | $22.5K |
| High Wind | 1,992 | 5 | 6 | $20.9M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,741 | 2 | 11 | $5.4M |
| Winter Storm | 1,497 | 0 | 0 | $848.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
30
Total Paid
$93.7K
Avg Per Claim
$3.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 64.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$29.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Landslide Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Avalanche Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Hail Very Low
Tornado 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: Landslide
Landslide risk is a function of slope, soil and water, so it is usually a SECOND-ORDER hazard: it is triggered by the rainfall, snowmelt, wildfire burn scars or seismic shaking that came first. That is why a county can carry high landslide exposure whose realized damage is recorded under a flood or storm declaration instead.
Worth noting for Garfield County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Landslide carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Fire. 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
Garfield County's closest FEMA peer: Jones County, NC
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Garfield County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Garfield County: NRI composite 64.5 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Garfield County: 3 of 12 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Garfield County shows 12 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
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 Garfield County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Garfield 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: 64.5 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 12. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 12 FEMA declarations, Garfield County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
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 Garfield County?
The most common disaster type in Garfield County is Fire, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Coastal Storm (1), Flood (1).
How does Garfield County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Colorado average?
FEMA lists 12 declaration records for Garfield County. That is 18% above the Colorado county mean of 10.2. Its count is also 42% below 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 Garfield County received?
Garfield County has received 3 major disaster declarations, representing 25% of all 12 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Garfield County filed?
Garfield County has 30 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $93.7K in payments, with an average of $3.1K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Garfield County?
No. In Garfield County, Landslide has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $21.5M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Garfield County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Garfield County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Garfield County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Garfield County, Colorado has an overall risk score of 64.5 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Very Low, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $29.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Garfield County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Garfield County as of the latest release is Landslide (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Moderate) and Avalanche (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts landslide here at an average of 3.9 times per year. 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 Garfield County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Colorado profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events