FEMA Records
23
Above median
Massachusetts · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Hampshire County, MA
23 FEMA disaster declarations (1986-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Snowstorm.
- 23
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 70
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Snowstorm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Hampshire County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 23 declarations, more than 62% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 20% below the Massachusetts county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 30%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 30%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 23
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 215
- 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 25015 · Hampshire County 23 declarations · rank 1226/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 23
- MAJOR-LIGHT 48%
- RANK-LOWER #1,226
- PHOTO-FINISH Roanoke
- NRI-LOW 70
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Snowstorm
- VS-ST-BELOW -20%
Nearest declaration peer: Roanoke, VA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Massachusetts state profile
Hampshire County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Hampshire County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Amherst · near 23
Amherst · near
23 declarations
- Hampshire · this county 23
Hampshire · this county
23 declarations
- Roanoke · near 23
Roanoke · near
23 declarations
- Vance · near 23
Vance · near
23 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Hampshire County carries 23 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1226 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Hampshire County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Hampshire County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Hampshire County
23 Top 38% higher than 62% 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
Hampshire County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Hampshire County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $24.8M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Hurricane carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 Hampshire County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 215 paid claims, totaling $2.0M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $9.3K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Massachusetts county averages 28.8 federal declaration records, while Hampshire County has 23. The gap is 20% 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 69.9/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $37.3M in annualized losses), and a Very Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Very High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Hurricane carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 10 years here, based on 38 historical events on record.
54 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Hampshire County, MA · 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
17/30
23 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
10/25
23 declarations (0.8x state county average of 29)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
12/25
11 of 23 declarations are major disasters (48%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Hampshire County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Hampshire 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
48%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
70
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Hampshire 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 10 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2 times per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 715 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 25 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 4.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 4 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 3.2 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 3 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 18 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 10,148 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Snowstorm 7
Hurricane 6
Severe Storm 6
Biological 2
Severe Ice Storm 1
Flood 1
What Snowstorm declarations mean here
Snowstorm is the most frequent declaration type on Hampshire County's record, 30% of its declarations. Snow-related declarations work on a narrower basis than most other hazards: they are generally issued to reimburse the cost of snow removal and emergency protective measures, rather than to repair destroyed property.
The qualifying test is unusual too. FEMA assesses snowfall against record levels for the affected area, so the same storm total can qualify in a county where it is historically extreme and not qualify a few hundred miles north where it is an ordinary winter. A low snowstorm declaration count is therefore not evidence of mild winters.
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).
Emergency - 12 52.2%
of all 23 declarations
Major Disaster - 11 47.8%
of all 23 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2013 | 2 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 3 | |
| 2009 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
Show 1 earlier declaration years
| 1986 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 23 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 23 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3599 | HURRICANE LEE | EM | Hurricane | 2023-09-15 |
| 4496 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-27 |
| 3438 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4110 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-04-19 |
| 3350 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 4051 | SEVERE STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-01-06 |
| 3343 | SEVERE STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-11-01 |
| 4028 | TROPICAL STORM IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-09-03 |
| 3330 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-26 |
| 1959 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2011-03-07 |
| 1813 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2009-01-05 |
| 3296 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2008-12-13 |
| 1701 | SEVERE STORMS AND INLAND AND COASTAL FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-05-16 |
| 1614 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2005-11-10 |
| 3252 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 3201 | RECORD AND/OR NEAR RECORD SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2005-02-17 |
| 3191 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2004-01-15 |
| 3175 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2003-03-11 |
| 3165 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2001-03-28 |
| 1090 | BLIZZARD OF 96 | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-24 |
Show 3 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3103 | BLIZZARDS, HIGH WINDS & RECORD SNOWFALL | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-16 |
| 790 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1987-04-18 |
| 751 | HURRICANE GLORIA | DR | Hurricane | 1985-10-28 |
Storm Events in Massachusetts
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Hampshire County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 2,101 | 2 | 7 | $13.2M |
| Strong Wind | 1,019 | 4 | 8 | $3.2M |
| High Wind | 722 | 3 | 10 | $10.8M |
| Flood | 563 | 0 | 0 | $4.0M |
| Winter Weather | 390 | 1 | 14 | $1.4M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
215
Total Paid
$2.0M
Avg Per Claim
$9.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 69.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$37.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Avalanche 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: Hurricane
Hurricane exposure in the model bundles the three ways a tropical system does harm, which arrive on different timescales and are insured differently: wind, storm surge on the coast, and rainfall flooding that can reach far inland well after landfall.
Worth noting for Hampshire County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Hurricane carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Snowstorm. 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
Hampshire County's closest FEMA peer: Iredell County, NC
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Hampshire County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Hampshire County shows 23 FEMA declarations, led by Snowstorm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Hampshire County: 11 of 23 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Hampshire County: NRI composite 69.9 (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 Hampshire County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Hampshire 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: 69.9 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 23. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Hampshire County's NFIP claims file (215 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).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Hampshire County?
The most common disaster type in Hampshire County is Snowstorm, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (6), Severe Storm (6), Biological (2).
How does Hampshire County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Massachusetts average?
The typical Massachusetts county has 28.8 FEMA declaration records; Hampshire County has 23, or 20% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 11% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Hampshire County received?
Hampshire County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 48% of all 23 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Hampshire County filed?
Hampshire County has 215 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $2.0M in payments, with an average of $9.3K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Hampshire County?
No. In Hampshire County, Hurricane has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $24.8M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Hampshire County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Hampshire County was 2011, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1986 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Hampshire County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Hampshire County, Massachusetts has an overall risk score of 69.9 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Very Low, while community resilience comes in at Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $37.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Hampshire County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Hampshire County as of the latest release is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Riverine Flooding (Relatively Moderate) and Ice Storm (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 10 years, drawn from 38 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Hampshire County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Massachusetts profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events