FEMA Records
27
High volume
West Virginia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Greenbrier County, WV
27 FEMA disaster declarations (1967-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 27
- FEMA declarations
- 19
- Major disasters
- 76
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Greenbrier County. Its 27 FEMA declarations are 12% above the West Virginia county mean and exceed the count for 78% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 24%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 24%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 27
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 943
- 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 Greenbrier County compare?
Greenbrier County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
27 Top 22% higher than 78% 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
Greenbrier County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the West Virginia county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Greenbrier County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $18.2M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), 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 Greenbrier County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 943 claims and $25.7M 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 $27.3K. 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. Greenbrier County's 27 federal records stand 12% above the West Virginia county mean of 24.2. 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 75.8/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $25.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. 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 2.5 times per year here.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 27 entries for Greenbrier County, including 19 Major Disaster records, 12% above the West Virginia county mean. Across the 59-year span, that works out to 0.5 declarations a year. Flood leads the file with 9 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
70 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Greenbrier County, WV · 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
27 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
27 declarations (1.1x state county average of 24)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
19 of 27 declarations are major disasters (70%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Greenbrier County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. West Virginia Avg
+12%
State avg: 24.2
vs. National Avg
+30%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.5
Over 59 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Greenbrier 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
70%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
76
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Greenbrier 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 2.5 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 5.6 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 43 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 22 times per year |
| Avalanche | Relatively Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 502 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 890 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 139 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 1.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 16 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0 modeled event-days per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 9
Severe Storm 7
Hurricane 3
Snowstorm 3
Biological 2
Drought 2
Winter Storm 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Greenbrier County's record, 33% 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 - 19 70.4%
of all 27 declarations
Emergency - 8 29.6%
of all 27 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
Show 5 earlier declaration years
| 1977 | 3 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 2 | |
| 1967 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 27 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 27 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3639 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 4861 | SEVERE STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2025-02-26 |
| 4517 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-03 |
| 3450 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4273 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2016-06-25 |
| 4221 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2015-05-21 |
| 3358 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-29 |
| 4071 | SEVERE STORMS AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-07-23 |
| 3345 | SEVERE STORMS | EM | Severe Storm | 2012-06-30 |
| 1893 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-03-29 |
| 1881 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-03-02 |
| 3221 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1500 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-11-21 |
| 1455 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, RECORD/NEAR RECORD SNOW, HEAVY RAINS, FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-03-14 |
| 1378 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-06-03 |
| 1096 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-01-25 |
| 1084 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-13 |
| 3109 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 753 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1985-11-07 |
| 3051 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-08-24 |
Show 7 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 531 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1977-04-07 |
| 3021 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-19 |
| 426 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-04-11 |
| 344 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-07-03 |
| 279 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-09-24 |
| 278 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Hurricane | 1969-09-03 |
| 224 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1967-03-13 |
Storm Events in West Virginia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Greenbrier County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 3,644 | 4 | 9 | $16.4M |
| Winter Weather | 1,939 | 0 | 22 | $1.3M |
| Flood | 1,127 | 13 | 0 | $109.0M |
| Flash Flood | 1,003 | 33 | 1 | $141.5M |
| Hail | 757 | 1 | 0 | $6.5M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
943
Total Paid
$25.7M
Avg Per Claim
$27.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 75.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$25.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Landslide Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Avalanche Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Hail Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Drought Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Heat Wave 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 Greenbrier 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 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
Greenbrier County's closest FEMA peer: Tioga County, NY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Greenbrier County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Greenbrier County shows 27 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Greenbrier County: 19 of 27 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Greenbrier County: NRI composite 75.8 (Relatively Low).
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 Greenbrier County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Greenbrier County's NFIP claims file (943 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 Greenbrier County?
The most common disaster type in Greenbrier County is Flood, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (7), Hurricane (3), Snowstorm (3).
How does Greenbrier County's FEMA declaration record compare with the West Virginia average?
FEMA lists 27 declaration records for Greenbrier County. That is 12% above the West Virginia county mean of 24.2. Its count is also 30% 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 Greenbrier County received?
Greenbrier County has received 19 major disaster declarations, representing 70% of all 27 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Greenbrier County filed?
Greenbrier County has 943 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $25.7M in payments, with an average of $27.3K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Greenbrier County?
No. In Greenbrier County, Landslide has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $18.2M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Greenbrier County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Greenbrier County was 1977, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1967 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Greenbrier County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Greenbrier County, West Virginia has an overall risk score of 75.8 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Very High; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $25.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Greenbrier County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Greenbrier County as of the latest release is Landslide (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively Moderate) and Riverine Flooding (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts landslide here at an average of 2.5 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.
What this means for Greenbrier County
Greenbrier County, WV has 27 federal declaration records, 12% more than the West Virginia county mean of 24; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 19 of 27 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. West Virginia overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the West Virginia mean and the totals for 78% 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.