FEMA Records
18
Below median
Ohio · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Hamilton County, OH
18 FEMA disaster declarations (1968-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 18
- FEMA declarations
- 13
- Major disasters
- 96
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Hamilton County. Its 18 FEMA declarations are 23% above the Ohio county mean and exceed the count for 37% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 4%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 4%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 18
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,920
- 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 Hamilton County compare?
Hamilton County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
18 37th percentile higher than 37% 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
Hamilton County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Ohio county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Hamilton County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $109.1M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Tornado 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 Hamilton County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,920 claims and $33.6M 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 $17.5K. 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. Hamilton County's 18 federal records stand 23% above the Ohio county mean of 14.6. 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 96.3/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $221.2M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Tornado stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 4 years here, based on 13 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 18 entries for Hamilton County, including 13 Major Disaster records, 23% above the Ohio county mean. Across the 52-year span, that works out to 0.3 declarations a year. Severe Storm leads the file with 7 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
64 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Hamilton County, OH · 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
13/30
18 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
15/25
18 declarations (1.2x state county average of 15)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
13 of 18 declarations are major disasters (72%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Hamilton County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Ohio Avg
+23%
State avg: 14.6
vs. National Avg
-13%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.3
Over 52 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Hamilton 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
72%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
96
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Hamilton 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Very High | roughly once every 4 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively High | 6.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 2.2 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 3.3 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 5.1 times per year |
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 50 times per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.5 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 11 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 698 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 49,152 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 174 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 2.3 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
Severe Storm 7
Flood 4
Biological 2
Snowstorm 2
Hurricane 1
Tornado 1
Mud/Landslide 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Hamilton County's record, 39% 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 - 13 72.2%
of all 18 declarations
Emergency - 5 27.8%
of all 18 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1968 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 18 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 18 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4507 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-31 |
| 3457 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4360 | SEVERE STORMS, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2018-04-17 |
| 3346 | SEVERE STORMS | EM | Severe Storm | 2012-06-30 |
| 4002 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-07-13 |
| 1805 | SEVERE WIND STORM ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL DEPRESSION IKE | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-10-24 |
| 3250 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 3198 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2005-01-11 |
| 1556 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-09-19 |
| 1390 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-08-27 |
| 1164 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-03-04 |
| 1122 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-06-24 |
| 1097 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-01-27 |
| 870 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-06-06 |
| 3055 | BLIZZARDS & SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1978-01-26 |
| 421 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1974-04-04 |
| 390 | MUDSLIDES | DR | Mud/Landslide | 1973-06-04 |
| 243 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1968-06-05 |
Storm Events in Ohio
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Hamilton County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 6,938 | 6 | 39 | $60.4M |
| Winter Weather | 2,101 | 7 | 42 | $3.3M |
| Hail | 1,749 | 0 | 0 | $673.5K |
| Flood | 1,607 | 9 | 0 | $84.5M |
| Flash Flood | 1,089 | 9 | 7 | $112.2M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1,920
Total Paid
$33.6M
Avg Per Claim
$17.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 96.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$221.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Tornado Very High
Heat Wave Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Lightning Very High
Landslide Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively High
Wildfire Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Drought Relatively 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: Tornado
Tornado exposure is the most spatially concentrated in the model: total destruction along a narrow corridor with intact property either side. County-level averages therefore understate severity badly for anyone actually in the path, and overstate it for everyone else.
For Hamilton County the two measures on this page point the same way: Tornado 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
Hamilton County's closest FEMA peer: Monmouth County, NJ
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Hamilton County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Hamilton County: NRI composite 96.3 (Relatively High).
Similar Major-disaster share
Hamilton County: 13 of 18 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Hamilton County shows 18 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 Hamilton County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Hamilton County's NFIP claims file (1,920 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 Hamilton County?
The most common disaster type in Hamilton County is Severe Storm, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (4), Biological (2), Snowstorm (2).
How does Hamilton County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Ohio average?
FEMA lists 18 declaration records for Hamilton County. That is 23% above the Ohio county mean of 14.6. Its count is also 13% 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 Hamilton County received?
Hamilton County has received 13 major disaster declarations, representing 72% of all 18 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Hamilton County filed?
Hamilton County has 1,920 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $33.6M in payments, with an average of $17.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Hamilton County?
No. In Hamilton County, Tornado has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $109.1M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Hamilton County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Hamilton County was 1996, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1968 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Hamilton County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Hamilton County, Ohio has an overall risk score of 96.3 out of 100 (Relatively High). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $221.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Hamilton County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Hamilton County as of the latest release is Tornado (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Heat Wave (Relatively High) and Cold Wave (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts tornado here at roughly once every 4 years, drawn from 13 historical events on record. 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 Hamilton County
Hamilton County, OH has 18 federal declaration records, 23% more than the Ohio county mean of 15; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 13 of 18 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Ohio overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Ohio mean and the totals for 37% 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.