FEMA Records
7
Low volume
Arizona · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
La Paz County, AZ
7 FEMA disaster declarations (1983-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 7
- FEMA declarations
- 5
- Major disasters
- 84
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Start with the local benchmark for La Paz County: 7 FEMA declaration records are 58% below the Arizona county mean, even though the count is higher than 4% of counties in the national registry. On FEMA's distinct National Risk Index model, which combines expected loss with vulnerability and resilience, the county ranks in the riskiest 16%.
- Riskiest 16%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 7
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 112
- 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 La Paz County compare?
La Paz County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
7 4th percentile higher than 4% 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
La Paz County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Arizona county average
What does La Paz County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 112 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 $9.4K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Arizona county averages 16.7 federal declaration records, while La Paz County has 7. The gap is 58% 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 sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 83.5/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $27.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Riverine Flooding carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 2.9 times per year here, based on 82 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The state comparison is the clearest context for La Paz County's moderate federal record. Its 7 declarations sit 58% below the Arizona county mean, with 5 Major Disaster entries among them. 2 records concern Flood, the file's most frequent incident type. Spread across 37 years, the registry rate is 0.2 per year. FEMA reports authorized programs separately from the DR, EM, and FM codes.
38 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
La Paz County, AZ · 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) Low
5/30
7 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density Low
5/25
7 declarations (0.4x state county average of 17)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
5 of 7 declarations are major disasters (71%)
Hazard Diversity High
10/20
4 different disaster types declared in La Paz County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
Moderate
vs. Arizona Avg
-58%
State avg: 16.7
vs. National Avg
-66%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.2
Over 37 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - La Paz 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
71%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
84
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike La Paz 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.9 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 16 modeled event-days per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 66 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 28 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1,513 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | an average of 2.5 times per year |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 10,000 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 17 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 25 times per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 15 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 26 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Biological 2
Flood 2
Severe Storm 2
Hurricane 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on La Paz County's record, 29% 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 - 5 71.4%
of all 7 declarations
Emergency - 2 28.6%
of all 7 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 7 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 7 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4524 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3442 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4203 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2014-11-05 |
| 1888 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-03-18 |
| 3241 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-12 |
| 1347 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-10-27 |
| 686 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1983-07-01 |
Storm Events in Arizona
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to La Paz County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | 2,094 | 45 | 18 | $149.9M |
| Excessive Heat | 1,812 | 1,497 | 120 | $0 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,680 | 3 | 19 | $75.9M |
| Heat | 727 | 1,206 | 39 | $0 |
| High Wind | 446 | 0 | 0 | $734.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
112
Total Paid
$1.1M
Avg Per Claim
$9.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 83.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$27.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Wildfire Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Avalanche Very Low
Hail Very Low
Lightning Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Cold Wave 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: Riverine Flooding
Riverine Flooding is the model's measure of a watershed draining more water than its channel can carry. Unlike flash flooding it usually builds over days and is forecast in advance, which makes it the hazard where warning time most reliably converts into reduced harm.
For La Paz County the two measures on this page point the same way: Riverine Flooding is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), and Flood 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
La Paz County's closest FEMA peer: Canadian County, OK
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for La Paz County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
La Paz County: NRI composite 83.5 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar Major-disaster share
La Paz County: 5 of 7 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
La Paz County shows 7 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
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 La Paz County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
La Paz County's NFIP claims file (112 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 La Paz County?
The most common disaster type in La Paz County is Flood, with 2 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Severe Storm (2), Hurricane (1).
How does La Paz County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Arizona average?
The typical Arizona county has 16.7 FEMA declaration records; La Paz County has 7, or 58% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 66% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has La Paz County received?
La Paz County has received 5 major disaster declarations, representing 71% of all 7 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has La Paz County filed?
La Paz County has 112 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.1M in payments, with an average of $9.4K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in La Paz County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in La Paz County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1983 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for La Paz County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, La Paz County, Arizona has an overall risk score of 83.5 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Very High, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $27.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to La Paz County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in La Paz County is Riverine Flooding (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate) and Drought (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts riverine flooding here at an average of 2.9 times per year, drawn from 82 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.
What this means for La Paz County
Against a Arizona county mean of 17 declarations, La Paz County, AZ records 7, or 58% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as moderate activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (5 of 7) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Arizona overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 4% of recorded county totals, but its own Arizona benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. 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
A below-average federal record is not a safety guarantee. Use National Weather Service alerts and local emergency-management notices for present conditions, not this historical comparison.
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.