FEMA Records
20
Above median
Pennsylvania · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Juniata County, PA
20 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 20
- FEMA declarations
- 14
- Major disasters
- 39
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Juniata County. Its 20 FEMA declarations are 8% above the Pennsylvania county mean and exceed the count for 46% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 39%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 39%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 20
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 178
- 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.
How does Juniata County compare?
Juniata County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
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 · 2026-08-03
Juniata County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Pennsylvania county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Juniata County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $6.6M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), 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 Juniata County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 178 paid claims, totaling $1.1M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $6.3K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Juniata County's 20 federal records stand 8% above the Pennsylvania county mean of 18.6. 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 38.8/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $8.8M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Very High) and community resilience (Relatively Moderate) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. 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 2 years here.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 20 entries for Juniata County, including 14 Major Disaster records, 8% above the Pennsylvania county mean. Across the 48-year span, that works out to 0.4 declarations a year. Flood leads the file with 7 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
58 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Juniata County, PA · 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 High
13/25
20 declarations (1.1x state county average of 19)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
14 of 20 declarations are major disasters (70%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Juniata County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Pennsylvania Avg
+8%
State avg: 18.6
vs. National Avg
-3%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.4
Over 48 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Juniata 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
70%
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 Juniata 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 2 years |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 16 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 12 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,534 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 2.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 35 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 10,862 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | an average of 1.3 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 7
Snowstorm 4
Hurricane 4
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Juniata County's record, 35% of its declarations. Federal flood declarations cover two mechanisms that behave very differently: riverine flooding, which builds over days as a watershed drains and is usually forecast well in advance, and flash flooding, which can arrive in under an hour from rainfall that fell somewhere upstream.
Flood is also the one hazard class where a second federal dataset exists for the same events. The National Flood Insurance Program records what was actually paid on insured losses, so it measures a narrower thing than the declaration count: uninsured damage, and flooding outside mapped special flood hazard areas, never enters it. Reading the two together is more informative than either alone.
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 - 14 70.0%
of all 20 declarations
Emergency - 6 30.0%
of all 20 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 3 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4506 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-30 |
| 3441 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4267 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2016-03-23 |
| 4099 | HURRICANE SANDY | DR | Hurricane | 2013-01-10 |
| 3356 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-29 |
| 4030 | TROPICAL STORM LEE | DR | Flood | 2011-09-12 |
| 3340 | REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM LEE | EM | Flood | 2011-09-08 |
| 1898 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-04-16 |
| 3235 | HURRICANE KATRINA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1557 | TROPICAL DEPRESSION IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-19 |
| 1555 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL DEPRESSION FRANCES | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-09-19 |
| 3180 | SNOW | EM | Severe Storm | 2003-03-14 |
| 1289 | PA - FLOODING 8/20/99 | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-09-01 |
| 1138 | FLOODING ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL DEPRESSION FRAN | DR | Flood | 1996-09-13 |
| 1093 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-01-21 |
| 1085 | BLIZZARD OF 96 | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-13 |
| 3105 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-16 |
| 523 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1976-10-20 |
| 485 | SEVERE STORMS, HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-09-26 |
| 340 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
Storm Events in Pennsylvania
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Juniata County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 9,976 | 18 | 114 | $115.5M |
| Flash Flood | 2,288 | 23 | 8 | $463.2M |
| Winter Weather | 1,670 | 23 | 268 | $566.0K |
| Hail | 1,400 | 0 | 0 | $2.6M |
| Winter Storm | 881 | 14 | 17 | $2.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
178
Total Paid
$1.1M
Avg Per Claim
$6.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 38.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$8.8M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Landslide Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Hail Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Cold Wave 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: 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 Juniata 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 Flood. 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
Juniata County's closest FEMA peer: Sussex County, DE
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Juniata County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Juniata County shows 20 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Juniata County: 14 of 20 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Juniata County: NRI composite 38.8 (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 Juniata County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Juniata County's NFIP claims file (178 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Juniata County?
The most common disaster type in Juniata County is Flood, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Snowstorm (4), Hurricane (4), Severe Storm (3).
How does Juniata County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Pennsylvania average?
FEMA lists 20 declaration records for Juniata County. That is 8% above the Pennsylvania county mean of 18.6. Its count is also 3% below 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 Juniata County received?
Juniata County has received 14 major disaster declarations, representing 70% of all 20 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Juniata County filed?
Juniata County has 178 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.1M in payments, with an average of $6.3K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Juniata County?
No. In Juniata County, Landslide has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $6.6M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Juniata County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Juniata County was 1996, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Juniata County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Juniata County, Pennsylvania has an overall risk score of 38.8 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $8.8M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Juniata County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Juniata County as of the latest release is Landslide (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively Low) and Winter Weather (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts landslide here at roughly once every 2 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.
What this means for Juniata County
Juniata County, PA has 20 federal declaration records, 8% more than the Pennsylvania county mean of 19; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 14 of 20 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Pennsylvania overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Pennsylvania mean and the totals for 46% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- Use the data guide to separate this mid-volume insurance-claims file from declaration counts and modeled NRI risk. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.