FEMA Records
29
High volume
Washington · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Kittitas County, WA
29 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 29
- FEMA declarations
- 17
- Major disasters
- 89
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Kittitas County. Its 29 FEMA declarations are 17% above the Washington county mean and exceed the count for 85% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 11%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 11%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 29
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 255
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Fire Management Assistance (FM) records, which are not presidential disaster declarations, alongside Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records.
How does Kittitas County compare?
Kittitas County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
29 Top 15% higher than 85% 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
Kittitas County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Washington county average
What does Kittitas County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 255 paid claims, totaling $3.3M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $13.0K 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. Kittitas County's 29 federal records stand 17% above the Washington county mean of 24.9. 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
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 89.1/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $77.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Wildfire stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 37 years here.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 29 entries for Kittitas County, including 17 Major Disaster records, 17% above the Washington county mean. Across the 61-year span, that works out to 0.5 declarations a year. Fire leads the file with 10 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
71 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Kittitas County, WA · 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
21/30
29 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.4x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
15/25
29 declarations (1.2x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
17 of 29 declarations are major disasters (59%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Kittitas County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Washington Avg
+17%
State avg: 24.9
vs. National Avg
+40%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.5
Over 61 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Kittitas 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
59%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
89
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Kittitas 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 37 years |
| Landslide | Relatively High | an average of 2.3 times per year |
| Avalanche | Very High | roughly once every 3 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 74 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 75 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 3.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 22 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 8.8 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 16 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 12 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 13 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 16 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 10
Flood 8
Severe Storm 5
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 1
Earthquake 1
Volcanic Eruption 1
Drought 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Kittitas County's record, 34% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
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 - 17 58.6%
of all 29 declarations
Fire Management - 8 27.6%
of all 29 declarations
Emergency - 4 13.8%
of all 29 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 3 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
Show 7 earlier declaration years
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 29 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 29 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4906 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2026-04-07 |
| 3629 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2025-12-12 |
| 4584 | WILDFIRES AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Fire | 2021-02-04 |
| 4481 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-22 |
| 3427 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5253 | RYEGRASS COULEE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2018-07-10 |
| 5200 | JOLLY MOUNTAIN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2017-09-02 |
| 4249 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-01-15 |
| 4188 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2014-08-11 |
| 5071 | SNAG CANYON FIRE | FM | Fire | 2014-08-03 |
| 5064 | SADDLE MOUNTAIN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2014-07-19 |
| 5038 | COLOCKUM TARPS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2013-07-30 |
| 5020 | TABLE MOUNTAIN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-09-20 |
| 5005 | TAYLOR BRIDGE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-08-14 |
| 1963 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-03-25 |
| 1825 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND RECORD AND NEAR RECORD SNOW | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-03-02 |
| 1817 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, LANDSLIDES, MUDSLIDES, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2009-01-30 |
| 3227 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-07 |
| 2538 | ELK HEIGHTS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2004-07-30 |
| 1361 | EARTHQUAKE | DR | Earthquake | 2001-03-01 |
Show 9 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1159 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, LAND & MUDS SLIDES,FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-17 |
| 1100 | HIGH WINDS, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-02-09 |
| 1079 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WIND, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-01-03 |
| 883 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-11-26 |
| 623 | VOLCANIC ERUPTION, MT. ST. HELENS | DR | Volcanic Eruption | 1980-05-21 |
| 545 | SEVERE STORMS,MUDSLIDES, & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1977-12-10 |
| 3037 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-03-31 |
| 492 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-12-13 |
| 185 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1964-12-29 |
Storm Events in Washington
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Kittitas County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Snow | 1,700 | 5 | 7 | $2.3M |
| High Wind | 614 | 15 | 6 | $1.1B |
| Wildfire | 299 | 4 | 4 | $1.8B |
| Winter Weather | 259 | 9 | 62 | $1.1M |
| Flood | 231 | 4 | 0 | $391.2M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
255
Total Paid
$3.3M
Avg Per Claim
$13.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 89.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$77.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Wildfire Relatively High
Landslide Relatively High
Avalanche Very High
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Drought Very Low
Hail Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Tornado 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: Wildfire
Wildfire risk in the model reflects fuel, terrain, weather and how much development sits in the wildland-urban interface. It is one of the few hazards where the exposure is materially changed by land management and building choices, not only by where the county happens to be.
For Kittitas County the two measures on this page point the same way: Wildfire is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Fire 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
Kittitas County's closest FEMA peer: Toa Baja Municipio, PR
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Kittitas County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Kittitas County shows 29 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
Kittitas County: 17 of 29 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Kittitas County: NRI composite 89.1 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Kittitas County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Kittitas County's NFIP claims file (255 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 Kittitas County?
The most common disaster type in Kittitas County is Fire, with 10 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (8), Severe Storm (5), Biological (2).
How does Kittitas County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Washington average?
FEMA lists 29 declaration records for Kittitas County. That is 17% above the Washington county mean of 24.9. Its count is also 40% 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 Kittitas County received?
Kittitas County has received 17 major disaster declarations, representing 59% of all 29 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Kittitas County filed?
Kittitas County has 255 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $3.3M in payments, with an average of $13.0K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Kittitas County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Kittitas County was 2014, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Kittitas County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Kittitas County, Washington has an overall risk score of 89.1 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Moderate, while community resilience comes in at Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $77.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Kittitas County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Kittitas County is Wildfire (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Landslide (Relatively High) and Avalanche (Very High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts wildfire here at roughly once every 37 years. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, 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 Kittitas County
Kittitas County, WA has 29 federal declaration records, 17% more than the Washington county mean of 25; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 17 of 29 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Washington overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Washington mean and the totals for 85% 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.