FEMA Records
20
Above median
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Howard County, TX
20 FEMA disaster declarations (1989-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 20
- FEMA declarations
- 9
- Major disasters
- 55
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Howard County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 20 declarations, more than 46% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 4% below the Texas county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 45%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 45%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 20
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 31
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Fire Management Assistance (FM) records, which are not presidential disaster declarations, alongside Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 48227 · Howard County 20 declarations · rank 1708/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 20
- MAJOR-LIGHT 45%
- RANK-LOWER #1,708
- PHOTO-FINISH Monona
- NRI-LOW 55
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-BELOW -4%
Nearest declaration peer: Monona, IA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
Howard County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Howard County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Cleveland · near 20
Cleveland · near
20 declarations
- Howard · this county 20
Howard · this county
20 declarations
- Monona · near 20
Monona · near
20 declarations
- Tallapoosa · near 20
Tallapoosa · near
20 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Howard County carries 20 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1708 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Howard County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Howard County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Howard County
20 46th percentile higher than 46% 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
Howard County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Howard County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $4.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Hail 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 Howard County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 54.8/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Very Low (roughly $13.8M in annualized losses), and a Relatively High social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hail stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 4.6 times per year here, based on 176 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 31 claims and $479.8K 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 Howard County has 20. The gap is 4% 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.
52 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Howard 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
14/30
20 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
20 declarations (1.0x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
11/25
9 of 20 declarations are major disasters (45%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Howard County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Howard 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
45%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
55
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Howard 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 | Relatively High | an average of 4.6 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively High | 65 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 259 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 6.2 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 6 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 2.3 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 48 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 112 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 4,695 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 9 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 9
Hurricane 3
Severe Storm 3
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Drought 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Howard County's record, 45% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
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 45.0%
of all 20 declarations
Emergency - 7 35.0%
of all 20 declarations
Fire Management - 4 20.0%
of all 20 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 4 | |
| 2008 | 3 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 20 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 20 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 |
| 4029 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2011-09-09 |
| 1999 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2011-07-01 |
| 2930 | BOYKEN ROAD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2011-06-21 |
| 2908 | MATT LOOP FIRE | FM | Fire | 2011-05-09 |
| 2758 | KENTWOOD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2008-03-31 |
| 2757 | SILVER HEELS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2008-03-27 |
| 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 |
| 3113 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | EM | Drought | 1993-09-10 |
| 960 | EXCESSIVE RAIN & HAIL | DR | Severe Storm | 1992-09-09 |
| 828 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1989-05-19 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Howard 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
31
Total Paid
$479.8K
Avg Per Claim
$15.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 54.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$13.8M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Relatively High
Drought Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Earthquake 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.
Worth noting for Howard County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Hail carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Fire. 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
Howard County's closest FEMA peer: Gaston County, NC
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Howard County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Howard County shows 20 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
Howard County: 9 of 20 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Howard County: NRI composite 54.8 (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 Howard County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Howard 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: 54.8 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 20. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 20 FEMA declarations, Howard 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 Howard County?
The most common disaster type in Howard County is Fire, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (3), Severe Storm (3), Severe Ice Storm (2).
How does Howard County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
The typical Texas county has 20.9 FEMA declaration records; Howard County has 20, or 4% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 3% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Howard County received?
Howard County has received 9 major disaster declarations, representing 45% of all 20 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Howard County filed?
Howard County has 31 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $479.8K in payments, with an average of $15.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Howard County?
No. In Howard County, Hail has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $4.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Howard County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Howard County was 2011, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1989 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Howard County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Howard County, Texas has an overall risk score of 54.8 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 Very Low, representing $13.8M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Howard County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Howard County as of the latest release is Hail (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Drought (Relatively High) and Wildfire (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 4.6 times per year, drawn from 176 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 Howard County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events