FEMA Records
29
High volume
Washington · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Klickitat County, WA
29 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 29
- FEMA declarations
- 17
- Major disasters
- 74
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Klickitat 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 26%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 26%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 29
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 20
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 53039 · Klickitat County 29 declarations · rank 473/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 29
- MAJOR-MID 59%
- RANK-MID #473
- PHOTO-FINISH Bath
- NRI-LOW 74
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-ABOVE +17%
Nearest declaration peer: Bath, KY (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Washington state profile
Klickitat County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Klickitat County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Bath · near 29
Bath · near
29 declarations
- Klickitat · this county 29
Klickitat · this county
29 declarations
- Lenoir · near 29
Lenoir · near
29 declarations
- Walthall · near 29
Walthall · near
29 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Klickitat County carries 29 FEMA declaration records, ranked 473 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Klickitat County ranks in the national declaration registry
Klickitat County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Klickitat County
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 · 2026-08-25
Klickitat County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Klickitat County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 73.9/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $26.1M in annualized losses), and a Relatively High social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. 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 55 years here.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 20 claims and $286.0K 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.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Klickitat 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.
71 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Klickitat 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 Klickitat County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Klickitat 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
74
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Klickitat 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 55 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Relatively Low | roughly once every 76 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 5 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 71 years |
| Avalanche | Relatively Low | roughly once every 30 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 15 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 7.7 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 4.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 23 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 20 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 9
Flood 7
Severe Storm 7
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 1
Severe Ice Storm 1
Volcanic Eruption 1
Drought 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Klickitat County's record, 31% 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 | 1 | |
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 3 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
Show 7 earlier declaration years
| 1997 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 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 |
| 5601 | BURDOIN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-07-19 |
| 4775 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-04-28 |
| 5470 | NEWELL ROAD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2023-07-23 |
| 4650 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, SNOWSTORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2022-03-29 |
| 4593 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2021-04-08 |
| 4481 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-22 |
| 3427 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5113 | HORSETHIEF BUTTE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2015-09-14 |
| 3372 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2015-08-21 |
| 5094 | HIGHWAY 8 FIRE | FM | Fire | 2015-08-05 |
| 5011 | HIGHWAY 141 FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2012-09-06 |
| 4056 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-03-05 |
| 2966 | MONASTERY FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2011-09-08 |
| 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 |
| 1682 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-02-14 |
| 3227 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-07 |
| 2323 | WA - MULE DRY FIRE - 2000 | FM | Fire | 2000-08-25 |
Show 9 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2225 | WA - CLEVELAND FIRE - 07/28/98 | FM | Fire | 1998-07-28 |
| 1159 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, LAND & MUDS SLIDES,FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-17 |
| 1152 | SEVERE ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 1997-01-07 |
| 1100 | HIGH WINDS, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-02-09 |
| 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 |
| 414 | SEVERE STORMS, SNOWMELT & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-01-25 |
| 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 Klickitat 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
20
Total Paid
$286.0K
Avg Per Claim
$14.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 73.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$26.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Wildfire Relatively High
Volcanic Activity Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively High
Landslide Relatively Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Avalanche Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Hail Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Drought 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 Klickitat 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
Klickitat County's closest FEMA peer: Ellis County, OK
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Klickitat County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Klickitat County shows 29 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
Klickitat County: 17 of 29 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Klickitat County: NRI composite 73.9 (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 Klickitat County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Klickitat 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: 73.9 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 29. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 29 FEMA declarations, Klickitat 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 Klickitat County?
The most common disaster type in Klickitat County is Fire, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (7), Severe Storm (7), Biological (2).
How does Klickitat County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Washington average?
FEMA lists 29 declaration records for Klickitat 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 Klickitat County received?
Klickitat County has received 17 major disaster declarations, representing 59% of all 29 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Klickitat County filed?
Klickitat County has 20 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $286.0K in payments, with an average of $14.3K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Klickitat County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Klickitat County was 2015, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Klickitat County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Klickitat County, Washington has an overall risk score of 73.9 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively High; on community resilience, Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $26.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Klickitat County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Klickitat County as of the latest release is Wildfire (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Volcanic Activity (Relatively Low) and Ice Storm (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts wildfire here at roughly once every 55 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 Klickitat County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Washington profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events