FEMA Records
14
Low volume
Georgia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Irwin County, GA
14 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 14
- FEMA declarations
- 7
- Major disasters
- 14
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Irwin County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 14 declarations, more than 20% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 19% below the Georgia county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 14%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 14%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 14
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1
- 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 13155 · Irwin County 14 declarations · rank 2578/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 14
- MAJOR-MID 50%
- RANK-LOWER #2,578
- PHOTO-FINISH Pulaski
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -19%
Nearest declaration peer: Pulaski, IL (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Georgia state profile
Irwin County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Irwin County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Franklin (city) · near 14
Franklin (city) · near
14 declarations
- Harris · near 14
Harris · near
14 declarations
- Irwin · this county 14
Irwin · this county
14 declarations
- Pulaski · near 14
Pulaski · near
14 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Irwin County carries 14 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2578 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Irwin County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Irwin County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Irwin County
14 20th percentile higher than 20% 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
Irwin County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Irwin County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's National Risk Index places this county in the low end of the national distribution, composite score 13.6/100 (Very Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $5.6M in annualized losses). Two modifiers shape how that exposure becomes real-world harm here: social vulnerability (Relatively Low) and community resilience (Relatively Low). Even the county's top-rated hazard, Hurricane, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 4 years here, based on 65 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 1 claim and $1.4K 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 Georgia county averages 17.4 federal declaration records, while Irwin County has 14. The gap is 19% 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.
46 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Irwin County, GA · 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
10/30
14 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
10/25
14 declarations (0.8x state county average of 17)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
7 of 14 declarations are major disasters (50%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Irwin County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Irwin 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
50%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
14
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Irwin 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 Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 68 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 25 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 726 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 4.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,751 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 22 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 7
Tropical Storm 2
Biological 2
Severe Storm 2
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Irwin County's federal record, 50% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
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 - 7 50.0%
of all 14 declarations
Emergency - 7 50.0%
of all 14 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 14 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 14 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4830 | HURRICANE HELENE | DR | Hurricane | 2024-09-30 |
| 3616 | HURRICANE HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-26 |
| 3607 | HURRICANE DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-05 |
| 4501 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-29 |
| 3464 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4400 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | DR | Hurricane | 2018-10-14 |
| 3406 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | EM | Hurricane | 2018-10-10 |
| 4338 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-15 |
| 3387 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-08 |
| 1833 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-04-23 |
| 3218 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1560 | TROPICAL STORM FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-24 |
| 1209 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-03-11 |
| 3044 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-07-20 |
Storm Events in Georgia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Irwin County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 9,617 | 15 | 75 | $65.4M |
| Drought | 1,363 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Hail | 1,257 | 0 | 0 | $61.8M |
| Flash Flood | 1,154 | 0 | 3 | $29.3M |
| Tropical Storm | 655 | 28 | 19 | $855.3M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1
Total Paid
$1.4K
Avg Per Claim
$1.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 13.6/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$5.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Hail Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Ice Storm 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: 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.
For Irwin County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Low), and Hurricane 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
Irwin County's closest FEMA peer: Roberts County, TX
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Irwin County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Irwin County shows 14 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Irwin County: 7 of 14 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Irwin County: NRI composite 13.6 (Very 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 Irwin County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Irwin 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: 13.6 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 14. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 14 FEMA declarations, Irwin 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 Irwin County?
The most common disaster type in Irwin County is Hurricane, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Tropical Storm (2), Biological (2), Severe Storm (2).
How does Irwin County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Georgia average?
The typical Georgia county has 17.4 FEMA declaration records; Irwin County has 14, or 19% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 32% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Irwin County received?
Irwin County has received 7 major disaster declarations, representing 50% of all 14 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Irwin County filed?
Irwin County has 1 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.4K in payments, with an average of $1.4K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Irwin County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Irwin County was 2024, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Irwin County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Irwin County, Georgia has an overall risk score of 13.6 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Low and community resilience is Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $5.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Irwin County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Irwin County as of the latest release is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Relatively Moderate) and Drought (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 4 years, drawn from 65 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 Irwin County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Georgia profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events