FEMA Records
21
Above median
New York · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Jefferson County, NY
21 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Snowstorm.
- 21
- FEMA declarations
- 12
- Major disasters
- 64
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Snowstorm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Jefferson County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 21 declarations, more than 52% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 14% below the New York county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 36%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 36%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 21
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 250
- 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 36045 · Jefferson County 21 declarations · rank 1557/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 21
- MAJOR-MID 57%
- RANK-LOWER #1,557
- PHOTO-FINISH Montgomery
- NRI-LOW 64
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Snowstorm
- VS-ST-BELOW -14%
Nearest declaration peer: Montgomery, IN (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · New York state profile
Jefferson County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Jefferson County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Atascosa · near 21
Atascosa · near
21 declarations
- Jefferson · this county 21
Jefferson · this county
21 declarations
- Mason · near 21
Mason · near
21 declarations
- Montgomery · near 21
Montgomery · near
21 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Jefferson County carries 21 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1557 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Jefferson County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Jefferson County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Jefferson County
21 Top 48% higher than 52% 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
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Jefferson County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $19.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Winter Weather 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 Jefferson County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 250 paid claims, totaling $2.4M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $9.5K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a New York county averages 24.5 federal declaration records, while Jefferson County has 21. The gap is 14% 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 64.0/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $25.7M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Winter Weather stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 40 times per year here, based on 764 historical events on record.
60 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Jefferson County, NY · 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
15/30
21 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
11/25
21 declarations (0.9x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
12 of 21 declarations are major disasters (57%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
9 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
57%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
64
Relatively 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 40 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1 time per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 591 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 4.8 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 136 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 25 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 1.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 70,960 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 83 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Snowstorm 7
Flood 3
Biological 2
Severe Storm 2
Hurricane 2
Other 2
Tropical Storm 1
Winter Storm 1
Fire 1
What Snowstorm declarations mean here
Snowstorm is the most frequent declaration type on Jefferson County's record, 33% of its declarations. Snow-related declarations work on a narrower basis than most other hazards: they are generally issued to reimburse the cost of snow removal and emergency protective measures, rather than to repair destroyed property.
The qualifying test is unusual too. FEMA assesses snowfall against record levels for the affected area, so the same storm total can qualify in a county where it is historically extreme and not qualify a few hundred miles north where it is an ordinary winter. A low snowstorm declaration count is therefore not evidence of mild winters.
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 - 12 57.1%
of all 21 declarations
Emergency - 9 42.9%
of all 21 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1977 | 2 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 21 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 21 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4825 | REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | DR | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-24 |
| 3589 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2022-11-20 |
| 4480 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-20 |
| 3434 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4472 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-12-19 |
| 4348 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2017-11-14 |
| 4204 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND FLOODING | DR | Snowstorm | 2014-12-22 |
| 3351 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 3262 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-30 |
| 1534 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-08-03 |
| 3186 | POWER OUTAGE | EM | Other | 2003-08-23 |
| 1391 | FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS | DR | Fire | 2001-09-11 |
| 3155 | WEST NILE VIRUS | EM | Other | 2000-10-11 |
| 3136 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 1999-01-15 |
| 1196 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Snowstorm | 1998-01-06 |
| 1095 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-01-24 |
| 3107 | SEVERE BLIZZARD | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 898 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Snowstorm | 1991-03-21 |
| 527 | SNOWSTORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 1977-02-05 |
| 3027 | SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-01-29 |
Show 1 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 367 | HIGH WINDS, WAVE ACTION & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-03-21 |
Storm Events in New York
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Jefferson County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 8,295 | 6 | 45 | $45.0M |
| Winter Weather | 2,261 | 7 | 17 | $705.5K |
| Flash Flood | 1,775 | 23 | 3 | $674.3M |
| Strong Wind | 1,399 | 2 | 12 | $9.2M |
| Winter Storm | 1,228 | 13 | 2 | $4.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
250
Total Paid
$2.4M
Avg Per Claim
$9.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 64.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$25.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Winter Weather Relatively High
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Very Low
Hail Very Low
Drought No Rating
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: Winter Weather
Winter Weather in the model means the accumulation of snow and cold that disrupts rather than destroys: road closures, roof loads, burst pipes and lost heating. Its costs land heavily on transport and on households least able to absorb an interruption.
For Jefferson County the two measures on this page point the same way: Winter Weather is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Snowstorm 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: McDowell County, NC
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 21 FEMA declarations, led by Snowstorm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Jefferson County: 12 of 21 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Jefferson County: NRI composite 64.0 (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 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: 64.0 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 21. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Jefferson County's NFIP claims file (250 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).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Jefferson County?
The most common disaster type in Jefferson County is Snowstorm, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (3), Biological (2), Severe Storm (2).
How does Jefferson County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New York average?
The typical New York county has 24.5 FEMA declaration records; Jefferson County has 21, or 14% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 1% 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 12 major disaster declarations, representing 57% of all 21 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Jefferson County filed?
Jefferson County has 250 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $2.4M in payments, with an average of $9.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Jefferson County?
No. In Jefferson County, Winter Weather has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $19.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Jefferson County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Jefferson County was 2020, with 3 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, New York has an overall risk score of 64.0 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Low and community resilience is Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $25.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Jefferson County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Jefferson County as of the latest release is Winter Weather (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Ice Storm (Relatively Moderate) and Strong Wind (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts winter weather here at an average of 40 times per year, drawn from 764 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 Jefferson County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · New York profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events