FEMA Records
35
Very high volume
Washington · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Grays Harbor County, WA
35 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 35
- FEMA declarations
- 32
- Major disasters
- 97
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Grays Harbor County. Its 35 FEMA declarations are 41% above the Washington county mean and exceed the count for 93% 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
- 35
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 921
- 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 Grays Harbor County compare?
Grays Harbor County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
35 Top 7% higher than 93% 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
Grays Harbor County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Washington county average
What does Grays Harbor County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 921 claims and $14.0M 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 $15.2K. 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. Grays Harbor County's 35 federal records stand 41% above the Washington county mean of 24.9. 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 97.0/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $211.9M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Tsunami stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 8 years here, based on 28 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 35 entries for Grays Harbor County, including 32 Major Disaster records, 41% above the Washington county mean. Across the 61-year span, that works out to 0.6 declarations a year. Flood leads the file with 16 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
84 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Grays Harbor County, WA · 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) Very High
25/30
35 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
18/25
35 declarations (1.4x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share Very High
23/25
32 of 35 declarations are major disasters (91%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Grays Harbor County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Washington Avg
+41%
State avg: 24.9
vs. National Avg
+69%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.6
Over 61 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Grays Harbor 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
91%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
97
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Grays Harbor 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tsunami | Very High | roughly once every 8 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Very High | an average of 10 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively High | roughly once every 43 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | an average of 12 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 5 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 2 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 6.8 times per year |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 33,361 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 5.1 times per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 15 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 1.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 111 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 18,155 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 199 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 16
Severe Storm 13
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 1
Earthquake 1
Fishing Losses 1
Volcanic Eruption 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Grays Harbor County's record, 46% 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 - 32 91.4%
of all 35 declarations
Emergency - 3 8.6%
of all 35 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 2 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
Show 11 earlier declaration years
| 1997 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 2 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 35 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 35 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4906 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2026-04-07 |
| 3629 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2025-12-12 |
| 4775 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-04-28 |
| 4650 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, SNOWSTORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2022-03-29 |
| 4593 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2021-04-08 |
| 4539 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2020-04-23 |
| 4481 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-22 |
| 3427 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4418 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, MUDSLIDES, TORNADO | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-03-04 |
| 4253 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, MUDSLIDES, AND A T | DR | Flood | 2016-02-02 |
| 4242 | SEVERE WINDSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-10-15 |
| 4056 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-03-05 |
| 1825 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND RECORD AND NEAR RECORD SNOW | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-03-02 |
| 1817 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, LANDSLIDES, MUDSLIDES, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2009-01-30 |
| 1734 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-12-08 |
| 1682 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-02-14 |
| 1671 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-12-12 |
| 1641 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, TIDAL SURGE, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-05-17 |
| 3227 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-07 |
| 1499 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-11-07 |
Show 15 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1361 | EARTHQUAKE | DR | Earthquake | 2001-03-01 |
| 1172 | HEAVY RAINS, SNOW MELT, FLOODING, LAND & MUD SLIDES | DR | Flood | 1997-04-02 |
| 1159 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, LAND & MUDS SLIDES,FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-17 |
| 1100 | HIGH WINDS, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-02-09 |
| 1079 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WIND, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-01-03 |
| 1037 | THE EL NINO (THE SALMON INDUSTRY) | DR | Fishing Losses | 1994-08-02 |
| 883 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-11-26 |
| 852 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-01-18 |
| 623 | VOLCANIC ERUPTION, MT. ST. HELENS | DR | Volcanic Eruption | 1980-05-21 |
| 612 | STORMS, HIGH TIDES, MUDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1979-12-31 |
| 545 | SEVERE STORMS,MUDSLIDES, & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1977-12-10 |
| 492 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-12-13 |
| 322 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-02-01 |
| 300 | HEAVY RAINS, MELTING SNOWS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1971-02-09 |
| 185 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1964-12-29 |
Storm Events in Washington
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Grays Harbor County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Snow | 1,700 | 5 | 7 | $2.3M |
| High Wind | 614 | 15 | 6 | $1.1B |
| Wildfire | 299 | 4 | 4 | $1.8B |
| Winter Weather | 259 | 9 | 62 | $1.1M |
| Flood | 231 | 4 | 0 | $391.2M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
921
Total Paid
$14.0M
Avg Per Claim
$15.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 97.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$211.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Tsunami Very High
Coastal Flooding Very High
Earthquake Relatively High
Landslide Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Lightning Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Drought Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Hail Very Low
Volcanic Activity No Rating
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Tsunami
Tsunami exposure is narrow but severe, confined to low-lying coast and dependent on distant seismic events. It is the hazard where the gap between how rarely it occurs and how much it would cost is widest.
Worth noting for Grays Harbor County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Tsunami carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), 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
Grays Harbor County's closest FEMA peer: Jackson County, TN
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Grays Harbor County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Grays Harbor County shows 35 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Grays Harbor County: 32 of 35 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Grays Harbor County: NRI composite 97.0 (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 Grays Harbor County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Grays Harbor County's NFIP claims file (921 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 Grays Harbor County?
The most common disaster type in Grays Harbor County is Flood, with 16 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (13), Biological (2), Coastal Storm (1).
How does Grays Harbor County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Washington average?
FEMA lists 35 declaration records for Grays Harbor County. That is 41% above the Washington county mean of 24.9. Its count is also 69% 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 Grays Harbor County received?
Grays Harbor County has received 32 major disaster declarations, representing 91% of all 35 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Grays Harbor County filed?
Grays Harbor County has 921 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $14.0M in payments, with an average of $15.2K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Grays Harbor County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Grays Harbor County was 2020, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Grays Harbor County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Grays Harbor County, Washington has an overall risk score of 97.0 out of 100 (Relatively High). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively High; on community resilience, Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $211.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Grays Harbor County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Grays Harbor County as of the latest release is Tsunami (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Coastal Flooding (Very High) and Earthquake (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts tsunami here at roughly once every 8 years, drawn from 28 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.
What this means for Grays Harbor County
Grays Harbor County, WA has 35 federal declaration records, 41% more than the Washington county mean of 25; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 32 of 35 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Washington overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Washington mean and the totals for 93% 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.