FEMA Records
39
Very high volume
Florida · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Jefferson County, FL
39 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 39
- FEMA declarations
- 25
- Major disasters
- 39
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Jefferson County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 39 declarations, more than 96% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 3% below the Florida county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 39%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 39%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 39
- 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 12065 · Jefferson County 39 declarations · rank 120/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 39
- MAJOR-MID 64%
- RANK-UPPER #120
- PHOTO-FINISH Canadian
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -3%
Nearest declaration peer: Canadian, OK (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Florida state profile
Jefferson County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Jefferson County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Canadian · near
Canadian · near
39 declarations
- Delaware · near
Delaware · near
39 declarations
- Jefferson · this county
Jefferson · this county
39 declarations
- Orange · near
Orange · near
39 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Jefferson County carries 39 FEMA declaration records, ranked 120 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Jefferson County ranks in the national declaration registry
Jefferson County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Jefferson County
39 Top 4% higher than 96% 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
Jefferson County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Jefferson County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 39.0/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $7.3M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Very High) and community resilience (Relatively Low) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. 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 4 years here, based on 91 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 18 claims and $88.0K 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 Florida county averages 40.4 federal declaration records, while Jefferson County has 39. 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.
71 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Jefferson County, FL · 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
28/30
39 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
39 declarations (1.0x state county average of 40)
Major Disaster Share High
16/25
25 of 39 declarations are major disasters (64%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Jefferson County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Jefferson 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
64%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
39
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Jefferson 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 4 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 913 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 79 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 6.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | an average of 3.8 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,054 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 19 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 12 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 21
Severe Storm 8
Tropical Storm 5
Biological 2
Fire 2
Flood 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Jefferson County's federal record, 54% 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 - 25 64.1%
of all 39 declarations
Emergency - 14 35.9%
of all 39 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 5 | |
| 2023 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2019 | 3 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 4 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1998 | 2 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 39 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 39 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4828 | HURRICANE HELENE | DR | Hurricane | 2024-09-28 |
| 3615 | TROPICAL STORM HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-24 |
| 4806 | HURRICANE DEBBY | DR | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-10 |
| 3605 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-03 |
| 4794 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-06-17 |
| 4734 | HURRICANE IDALIA | DR | Hurricane | 2023-08-31 |
| 3596 | TROPICAL STORM IDALIA | EM | Tropical Storm | 2023-08-28 |
| 4680 | HURRICANE NICOLE | DR | Hurricane | 2022-12-13 |
| 3587 | TROPICAL STORM NICOLE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2022-11-08 |
| 4673 | HURRICANE IAN | DR | Hurricane | 2022-09-29 |
| 3584 | TROPICAL STORM IAN | EM | Hurricane | 2022-09-24 |
| 3562 | TROPICAL STORM FRED | EM | Hurricane | 2021-08-16 |
| 3561 | TROPICAL STORM ELSA | EM | Severe Storm | 2021-07-04 |
| 4564 | HURRICANE SALLY | DR | Hurricane | 2020-09-23 |
| 4486 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3432 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3419 | HURRICANE DORIAN | EM | Hurricane | 2019-08-30 |
| 4399 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | DR | Hurricane | 2018-10-11 |
| 3405 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | EM | Hurricane | 2018-10-09 |
| 4337 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-10 |
Show 19 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3385 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-05 |
| 4280 | HURRICANE HERMINE | DR | Hurricane | 2016-09-28 |
| 4068 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-07-03 |
| 1831 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-04-21 |
| 1785 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-08-24 |
| 3288 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | EM | Severe Storm | 2008-08-21 |
| 3220 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1595 | HURRICANE DENNIS | DR | Hurricane | 2005-07-10 |
| 1561 | HURRICANE JEANNE | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-26 |
| 1551 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-16 |
| 1545 | HURRICANE FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-04 |
| 1539 | TROPICAL STORM BONNIE AND HURRICANE CHARLEY | DR | Hurricane | 2004-08-13 |
| 1381 | TROPICAL STORM ALLISON | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-06-17 |
| 1344 | TROPICAL STORM HELENE | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-10-03 |
| 3139 | FL-FIRES 04/15/99 | EM | Fire | 1999-04-27 |
| 1249 | HURRICANE GEORGES | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-28 |
| 1223 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | DR | Fire | 1998-06-18 |
| 756 | HURRICANE KATE | DR | Hurricane | 1985-12-03 |
| 387 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-05-26 |
Storm Events in Florida
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Jefferson County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,243 | 17 | 45 | $24.8M |
| Hail | 1,012 | 0 | 0 | $564.6K |
| Heavy Rain | 865 | 2 | 3 | $200.0K |
| Flood | 826 | 9 | 0 | $2.0B |
| Tropical Storm | 767 | 92 | 6 | $4.9B |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
18
Total Paid
$88.0K
Avg Per Claim
$4.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 39.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$7.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Drought Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Hail 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 Jefferson County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), 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
Jefferson County's closest FEMA peer: Cumberland County, ME
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Jefferson County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Jefferson County shows 39 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Jefferson County: 25 of 39 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Jefferson County: NRI composite 39.0 (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 Jefferson County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Jefferson 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: 39.0 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 39. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 39 FEMA declarations, Jefferson 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 Jefferson County?
The most common disaster type in Jefferson County is Hurricane, with 21 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (8), Tropical Storm (5), Biological (2).
How does Jefferson County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Florida average?
The typical Florida county has 40.4 FEMA declaration records; Jefferson County has 39, or 3% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 88% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Jefferson County received?
Jefferson County has received 25 major disaster declarations, representing 64% of all 39 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Jefferson County filed?
Jefferson County has 18 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $88.0K in payments, with an average of $4.9K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Jefferson County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Jefferson County was 2024, with 5 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Jefferson County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Jefferson County, Florida has an overall risk score of 39.0 out of 100 (Very Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Very High; on community resilience, Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $7.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Jefferson County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Jefferson County as of the latest release is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Low) and Cold Wave (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 4 years, drawn from 91 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 Jefferson County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Florida profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events