FEMA Records
15
Below median
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Hale County, TX
15 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 15
- FEMA declarations
- 9
- Major disasters
- 78
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Hale County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 15 declarations, more than 23% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 28% below the Texas county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 22%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 22%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 15
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 13
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 48189 · Hale County 15 declarations · rank 2381/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 15
- MAJOR-MID 60%
- RANK-LOWER #2,381
- PHOTO-FINISH Polk
- NRI-LOW 78
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-BELOW -28%
Nearest declaration peer: Polk, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
Hale County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Hale County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Flathead · near 15
Flathead · near
15 declarations
- Hale · this county 15
Hale · this county
15 declarations
- Murray · near 15
Murray · near
15 declarations
- Polk · near 15
Polk · near
15 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Hale County carries 15 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2381 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Hale County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Hale County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Hale County
15 23rd percentile higher than 23% 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
Hale County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Hale County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 78.4/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $30.9M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Relatively Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hail stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 5.7 times per year here, based on 218 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 13 claims and $34.4K 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 Texas county averages 20.9 federal declaration records, while Hale County has 15. The gap is 28% 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.
50 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Hale 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) Moderate
11/30
15 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
9/25
15 declarations (0.7x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
9 of 15 declarations are major disasters (60%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Hale County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Hale 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
60%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
78
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Hale 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 | Very High | an average of 5.7 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively High | 84 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 7.7 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 345 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 48 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1 time per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,141 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 109 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 1.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 11 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 3
Hurricane 3
Severe Storm 3
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Tornado 2
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Hale County's record, 20% 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 - 9 60.0%
of all 15 declarations
Emergency - 6 40.0%
of all 15 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1970 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 15 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 15 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 4485 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3458 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3284 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-03-14 |
| 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 |
| 3142 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARDS | EM | Fire | 1999-09-01 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 960 | EXCESSIVE RAIN & HAIL | DR | Severe Storm | 1992-09-09 |
| 828 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1989-05-19 |
| 286 | TORNADOES, WINDSTORMS & FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1970-05-13 |
| 199 | TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1965-06-19 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Hale 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
13
Total Paid
$34.4K
Avg Per Claim
$2.6K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 78.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$30.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Very High
Drought Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Landslide 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 Hale County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hail is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Very 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
Hale County's closest FEMA peer: Richmond (city), VA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Hale County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Hale County: NRI composite 78.4 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Hale County: 9 of 15 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Hale County shows 15 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
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 Hale County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Hale 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: 78.4 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 15. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 15 FEMA declarations, Hale 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 Hale County?
The most common disaster type in Hale County is Severe Storm, with 3 declarations. Other disaster types include Fire (3), Hurricane (3), Severe Ice Storm (2).
How does Hale County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
The typical Texas county has 20.9 FEMA declaration records; Hale County has 15, or 28% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 28% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Hale County received?
Hale County has received 9 major disaster declarations, representing 60% of all 15 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Hale County filed?
Hale County has 13 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $34.4K in payments, with an average of $2.6K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Hale County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Hale County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Hale County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Hale County, Texas has an overall risk score of 78.4 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively High; on community resilience, Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $30.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Hale County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Hale County is Hail (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Drought (Relatively High) and Winter Weather (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 5.7 times per year, drawn from 218 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Hale County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events