FEMA Records
35
Very high volume
Tennessee · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Jackson County, TN
35 FEMA disaster declarations (1969-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 35
- FEMA declarations
- 30
- Major disasters
- 23
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Jackson County. Its 35 FEMA declarations are 63% above the Tennessee county mean and exceed the count for 93% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 23%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 23%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 35
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 18
- 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 47087 · Jackson County 35 declarations · rank 220/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-HIGH
- DECL-HEAVY 35
- MAJOR-HEAVY 86%
- RANK-UPPER #220
- PHOTO-FINISH Okeechobee
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-HIGH +63%
Nearest declaration peer: Okeechobee, FL (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Tennessee state profile
Jackson County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Jackson County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Brunswick · near 35
Brunswick · near
35 declarations
- Indian River · near 35
Indian River · near
35 declarations
- Jackson · this county 35
Jackson · this county
35 declarations
- Okeechobee · near 35
Okeechobee · near
35 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Jackson County carries 35 FEMA declaration records, ranked 220 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Jackson County ranks in the national declaration registry
Jackson County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Jackson County
35 Top 7% higher than 93% 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
Jackson County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Jackson County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $2.6M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Landslide carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low). 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 Jackson County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county's FEMA National Risk Index composite lands at 22.5/100 (Very Low), a modest reading against the rest of the country. Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $4.7M in annualized losses), tempered or compounded by a Very High social-vulnerability score and Very Low community-resilience score. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Landslide, 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 1 years here.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 18 claims and $1.2M 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.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Jackson County's 35 federal records stand 63% above the Tennessee county mean of 21.4. 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.
86 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Jackson County, TN · 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) Very High
25/30
35 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Very High
20/25
35 declarations (1.6x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share Very High
21/25
30 of 35 declarations are major disasters (86%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Jackson County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Jackson 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
86%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
23
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Jackson 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 3.2 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 57 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 7.5 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 5.9 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 376 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 50 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 10 modeled event-days per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 2.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 6,367 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 19
Flood 6
Tornado 3
Winter Storm 2
Biological 2
Severe Ice Storm 1
Hurricane 1
Snowstorm 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Jackson County's record, 54% 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 - 30 85.7%
of all 35 declarations
Emergency - 5 14.3%
of all 35 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
Show 12 earlier declaration years
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 2 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1982 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 35 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 35 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4898 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Winter Storm | 2026-02-06 |
| 3635 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 3625 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Storm | 2025-04-02 |
| 4792 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-06-17 |
| 4712 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADO | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-05-17 |
| 4601 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2021-05-08 |
| 4594 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-04-21 |
| 4514 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-02 |
| 3473 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4427 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2019-04-17 |
| 4320 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2017-06-23 |
| 4060 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-03-16 |
| 1974 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND ASSOCIATED FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-05-01 |
| 1965 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-03-31 |
| 1937 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-09-15 |
| 1909 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-05-04 |
| 1856 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-08-21 |
| 3217 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1568 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-10-07 |
| 1464 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-05-08 |
Show 15 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1456 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-03-20 |
| 1408 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-04-05 |
| 1331 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-06-12 |
| 1262 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND HIGH WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-01-19 |
| 1215 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-04-20 |
| 1197 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-01-13 |
| 1167 | HEAVY RAINS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, HAIL, HIGH WINDS | DR | Tornado | 1997-03-07 |
| 1010 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM,FLASH FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-02-28 |
| 3095 | SEVERE SNOWFALL, WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-14 |
| 889 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1991-01-04 |
| 708 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-05-25 |
| 666 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1982-08-24 |
| 459 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-03-22 |
| 424 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1974-04-04 |
| 263 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-07-11 |
Storm Events in Tennessee
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Jackson County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 6,558 | 22 | 58 | $107.0M |
| Hail | 1,690 | 0 | 0 | $545.5K |
| Heat | 1,343 | 9 | 15 | $0 |
| Flash Flood | 1,264 | 55 | 3 | $334.4M |
| Winter Weather | 1,088 | 5 | 0 | $261.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
18
Total Paid
$1.2M
Avg Per Claim
$69.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 22.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$4.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Landslide Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Drought Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Wildfire 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: Landslide
Landslide risk is a function of slope, soil and water, so it is usually a SECOND-ORDER hazard: it is triggered by the rainfall, snowmelt, wildfire burn scars or seismic shaking that came first. That is why a county can carry high landslide exposure whose realized damage is recorded under a flood or storm declaration instead.
Worth noting for Jackson County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Landslide carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Low), 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
Jackson County's closest FEMA peer: Cass County, ND
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Jackson County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Jackson County shows 35 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Jackson County: 30 of 35 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Jackson County: NRI composite 22.5 (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 Jackson County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Jackson 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: 22.5 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 35. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 35 FEMA declarations, Jackson 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 Jackson County?
The most common disaster type in Jackson County is Severe Storm, with 19 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (6), Tornado (3), Winter Storm (2).
How does Jackson County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Tennessee average?
FEMA lists 35 declaration records for Jackson County. That is 63% above the Tennessee county mean of 21.4. Its count is also 69% above 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 Jackson County received?
Jackson County has received 30 major disaster declarations, representing 86% of all 35 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Jackson County filed?
Jackson County has 18 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.2M in payments, with an average of $69.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Jackson County?
No. In Jackson County, Landslide has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $2.6M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Jackson County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Jackson County was 1998, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1969 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Jackson County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Jackson County, Tennessee has an overall risk score of 22.5 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $4.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Jackson County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Jackson County is Landslide (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Hail (Relatively Low) and Tornado (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts landslide here at roughly once every 1 years. 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 Jackson County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Tennessee profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events