FEMA Records
25
High volume
Missouri · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Lafayette County, MO
25 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 25
- FEMA declarations
- 18
- Major disasters
- 53
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Lafayette County. Its 25 FEMA declarations are 1% above the Missouri county mean and exceed the count for 71% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 47%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 47%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 25
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 18
- 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 29107 · Lafayette County 25 declarations · rank 814/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 25
- MAJOR-MID 72%
- RANK-MID #814
- PHOTO-FINISH Jefferson
- NRI-LOW 53
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +1%
Nearest declaration peer: Jefferson, AR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Missouri state profile
Lafayette County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among this county and nearest peers
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Benton · near 25
Benton · near
25 declarations
- Hancock · near 25
Hancock · near
25 declarations
- Jefferson · near 25
Jefferson · near
25 declarations
- Lafayette · this county 25
Lafayette · this county
25 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Lafayette County carries 25 FEMA declaration records, ranked 814 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How does Lafayette County compare?
Lafayette County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
25 Top 29% higher than 71% 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
Lafayette County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Lafayette County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 52.5/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $20.2M 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. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Cold Wave carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 2.3 times per year here, based on 43 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 18 claims and $275.6K 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. Lafayette County's 25 federal records stand 1% above the Missouri county mean of 24.6. 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.
67 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Lafayette County, MO · 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
18/30
25 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.2x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
25 declarations (1.0x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
18 of 25 declarations are major disasters (72%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Lafayette County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Lafayette 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
72%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
53
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Lafayette 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.3 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 13 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 9.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 6.6 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.9 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 754 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 10 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 3 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 2,067 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 49 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 10
Flood 7
Severe Ice Storm 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Tornado 1
Drought 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Lafayette County's record, 40% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
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 - 18 72.0%
of all 25 declarations
Emergency - 7 28.0%
of all 25 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 4 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 2 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 2 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1974 | 2 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 25 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 25 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4490 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-26 |
| 3482 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4451 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-07-09 |
| 4238 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-08-07 |
| 4012 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-08-12 |
| 3325 | FLOODING | EM | Flood | 2011-06-30 |
| 1961 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-03-23 |
| 3317 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-02-03 |
| 1934 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-08-17 |
| 3303 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2009-01-30 |
| 3281 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-12-12 |
| 1708 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-06-11 |
| 3232 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1463 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-05-06 |
| 1412 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-05-06 |
| 1403 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2002-02-06 |
| 1054 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, HAIL, FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-06-02 |
| 995 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-07-09 |
| 538 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1977-09-14 |
| 535 | TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1977-05-07 |
Show 5 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3017 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-09-24 |
| 439 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-06-10 |
| 407 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-11-01 |
| 372 | HEAVY RAINS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1973-04-19 |
| 203 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1965-07-27 |
Storm Events in Missouri
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Lafayette County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 6,391 | 30 | 52 | $63.4M |
| Hail | 4,411 | 0 | 1 | $86.1M |
| Flash Flood | 2,399 | 47 | 14 | $406.6M |
| Flood | 1,810 | 25 | 7 | $304.6M |
| Drought | 1,033 | 0 | 350 | $53.6M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
18
Total Paid
$275.6K
Avg Per Claim
$15.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 52.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$20.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Landslide Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Hurricane 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: Cold Wave
Cold Wave measures exposure to extreme cold rather than to snow. Its harm is concentrated in health effects, burst infrastructure and energy demand spikes, and it falls hardest where the building stock and the grid were not built with sustained cold in mind.
Worth noting for Lafayette County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Severe Storm. 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
Lafayette County's closest FEMA peer: Clarke County, MS
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Lafayette County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Lafayette County shows 25 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Lafayette County: 18 of 25 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Lafayette County: NRI composite 52.5 (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 Lafayette County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Lafayette 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: 52.5 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 25. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 25 FEMA declarations, Lafayette 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 Lafayette County?
The most common disaster type in Lafayette County is Severe Storm, with 10 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (7), Severe Ice Storm (3), Biological (2).
How does Lafayette County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Missouri average?
FEMA lists 25 declaration records for Lafayette County. That is 1% above the Missouri county mean of 24.6. Its count is also 21% 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 Lafayette County received?
Lafayette County has received 18 major disaster declarations, representing 72% of all 25 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Lafayette County filed?
Lafayette County has 18 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $275.6K in payments, with an average of $15.3K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Lafayette County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Lafayette County was 2011, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Lafayette County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Lafayette County, Missouri has an overall risk score of 52.5 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Low, while community resilience comes in at Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $20.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Lafayette County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Lafayette County as of the latest release is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Heat Wave (Relatively Low) and Landslide (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 2.3 times per year, drawn from 43 historical events on record. FEMA derives these ratings from historical event frequency, the assets exposed, and the community's vulnerability profile.
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.
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
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.