FEMA Records
31
High volume
New Hampshire · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Hillsborough County, NH
31 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 31
- FEMA declarations
- 19
- Major disasters
- 90
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Hillsborough County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 31 declarations, more than 88% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 3% below the New Hampshire county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 10%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 10%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 31
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 629
- 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 Hillsborough County compare?
Hillsborough County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
31 Top 12% higher than 88% 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
Hillsborough County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the New Hampshire county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Hillsborough County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $76.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Ice Storm 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 Hillsborough County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 629 claims and $10.4M 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 $16.6K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
Start with the state benchmark: a New Hampshire county averages 31.9 federal declaration records, while Hillsborough County has 31. The gap is 3% 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 sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 89.8/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $120.3M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very Low and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Ice Storm stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 2.1 times per year here, based on 144 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
Nationally, Hillsborough County's 31 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within New Hampshire, however, the count is 3% below the county mean. 19 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Severe Storm, appearing 13 times. The full 47-year record averages 0.7 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
64 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Hillsborough County, NH · 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
22/30
31 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
31 declarations (1.0x state county average of 32)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
19 of 31 declarations are major disasters (61%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Hillsborough County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. New Hampshire Avg
-3%
State avg: 31.9
vs. National Avg
+50%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.7
Over 47 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Hillsborough 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
61%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
90
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Hillsborough 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Storm | Very High | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 21 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 9 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 547 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 19 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 6 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 3.8 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4,753 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 4 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 2.4 times per year |
| 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
Severe Storm 13
Snowstorm 6
Flood 5
Hurricane 4
Biological 2
Severe Ice Storm 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Hillsborough County's record, 42% 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 - 19 61.3%
of all 31 declarations
Emergency - 12 38.7%
of all 31 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 2 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 3 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 2 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
Show 6 earlier declaration years
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 31 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 31 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4516 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-03 |
| 3445 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4209 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-03-25 |
| 4105 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-03-19 |
| 3360 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-30 |
| 4049 | SEVERE STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-12-05 |
| 3344 | SEVERE STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-11-01 |
| 3333 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-27 |
| 1913 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-05-12 |
| 1892 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-03-29 |
| 1812 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2009-01-02 |
| 3297 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2008-12-13 |
| 1799 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-10-03 |
| 1695 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-04-27 |
| 1643 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-05-25 |
| 1610 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2005-10-26 |
| 3258 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-19 |
| 3211 | RECORD SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2005-04-28 |
| 3207 | RECORD AND/OR NEAR RECORD SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2005-03-30 |
| 3193 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2004-01-15 |
Show 11 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3177 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2003-03-11 |
| 3166 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2001-03-28 |
| 1231 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-07-02 |
| 1199 | SEVERE ICE STORM, RAINS AND HIGH WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-01-15 |
| 1144 | FALL NORTHEASTER RAINSTORM | DR | Flood | 1996-10-29 |
| 3101 | BLIZZARDS, HIGH WINDS & RECORD SNOWFALL | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-16 |
| 917 | HURRICANE BOB & SEVERE STORMS | DR | Hurricane | 1991-09-09 |
| 876 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-08-29 |
| 789 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1987-04-16 |
| 771 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-08-27 |
| 399 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-07-11 |
Storm Events in New Hampshire
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Hillsborough County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 921 | 3 | 48 | $1.9M |
| Heavy Snow | 344 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 300 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Hail | 278 | 0 | 0 | $17.1K |
| Flash Flood | 256 | 0 | 1 | $26.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
629
Total Paid
$10.4M
Avg Per Claim
$16.6K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 89.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$120.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Ice Storm Very High
Lightning Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Landslide Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Wildfire Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Hail Relatively 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: Ice Storm
Ice storms load power lines and tree limbs with accumulating freezing rain until they fail. The characteristic cost is infrastructure and multi-day power loss across a wide area rather than structural damage to buildings, which is why their consequences often outlast the weather that caused them.
Worth noting for Hillsborough County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Ice Storm carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Severe Storm. 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
Hillsborough County's closest FEMA peer: Burlington County, NJ
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Hillsborough County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Hillsborough County shows 31 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Hillsborough County: 19 of 31 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Hillsborough County: NRI composite 89.8 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Hillsborough County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Hillsborough County's NFIP claims file (629 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 Hillsborough County?
The most common disaster type in Hillsborough County is Severe Storm, with 13 declarations. Other disaster types include Snowstorm (6), Flood (5), Hurricane (4).
How does Hillsborough County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New Hampshire average?
The typical New Hampshire county has 31.9 FEMA declaration records; Hillsborough County has 31, or 3% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 50% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Hillsborough County received?
Hillsborough County has received 19 major disaster declarations, representing 61% of all 31 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Hillsborough County filed?
Hillsborough County has 629 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $10.4M in payments, with an average of $16.6K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Hillsborough County?
No. In Hillsborough County, Ice Storm has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $76.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Hillsborough County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Hillsborough County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Hillsborough County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire has an overall risk score of 89.8 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). On social vulnerability the county rates Very Low; on community resilience, Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $120.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Hillsborough County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Hillsborough County as of the latest release is Ice Storm (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Relatively High) and Riverine Flooding (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts ice storm here at an average of 2.1 times per year, drawn from 144 historical events on record. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, 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 Hillsborough County
Against a New Hampshire county mean of 32 declarations, Hillsborough County, NH records 31, or 3% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (19 of 31) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. New Hampshire overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 88% of recorded county totals, but its own New Hampshire benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. 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
A below-average federal record is not a safety guarantee. Use National Weather Service alerts and local emergency-management notices for present conditions, not this historical comparison.
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.