FEMA Records
12
Low volume
Indiana · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
LaGrange County, IN
12 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Snowstorm.
- 12
- FEMA declarations
- 4
- Major disasters
- 62
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Snowstorm
- Top hazard
The verdict
LaGrange County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 12 declarations, more than 14% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 30% below the Indiana county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 38%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 38%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 12
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 45
- 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 18087 · LaGrange County 12 declarations · rank 2724/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 12
- MAJOR-LIGHT 33%
- RANK-LOWER #2,724
- PHOTO-FINISH Johnson
- NRI-LOW 62
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Snowstorm
- VS-ST-BELOW -30%
Nearest declaration peer: Johnson, KS (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Indiana state profile
LaGrange County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among LaGrange County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Crane · near 12
Crane · near
12 declarations
- Johnson · near 12
Johnson · near
12 declarations
- LaGrange · this county 12
LaGrange · this county
12 declarations
- Seward · near 12
Seward · near
12 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows LaGrange County carries 12 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2724 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
LaGrange County versus quieter counties in this dataset
LaGrange County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · LaGrange County
12 14th percentile higher than 14% 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
LaGrange County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for LaGrange County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $6.1M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Strong Wind carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High). 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 LaGrange County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 62.4/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Very Low (roughly $12.6M in annualized losses), and a Very High social-vulnerability profile combined with Very Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Strong Wind stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 5.1 times per year here, based on 193 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 45 claims and $626.7K 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.
Start with the state benchmark: a Indiana county averages 17.1 federal declaration records, while LaGrange County has 12. The gap is 30% 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.
41 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
LaGrange County, IN · 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
9/30
12 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.6x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
9/25
12 declarations (0.7x state county average of 17)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
8/25
4 of 12 declarations are major disasters (33%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in LaGrange County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - LaGrange 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
33%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
62
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike LaGrange 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 5.1 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.9 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 5 years |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 1.9 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.2 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 872 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 39 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 15 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 58 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 13 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 3.9 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 80,295 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Snowstorm 5
Biological 2
Tornado 2
Winter Storm 1
Severe Storm 1
Hurricane 1
What Snowstorm declarations mean here
Snowstorm is the most frequent declaration type on LaGrange County's record, 42% of its declarations. Snow-related declarations work on a narrower basis than most other hazards: they are generally issued to reimburse the cost of snow removal and emergency protective measures, rather than to repair destroyed property.
The qualifying test is unusual too. FEMA assesses snowfall against record levels for the affected area, so the same storm total can qualify in a county where it is historically extreme and not qualify a few hundred miles north where it is an ordinary winter. A low snowstorm declaration count is therefore not evidence of mild winters.
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).
Emergency - 8 66.7%
of all 12 declarations
Major Disaster - 4 33.3%
of all 12 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 12 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 12 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3641 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 4515 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-03 |
| 3456 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4173 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-04-22 |
| 3274 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2007-03-12 |
| 3238 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 3162 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2001-01-24 |
| 3135 | IN-WINTER STORM 12/23/98 | EM | Snowstorm | 1999-01-15 |
| 3056 | BLIZZARDS & SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1978-01-27 |
| 3028 | SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-02-02 |
| 423 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1974-04-04 |
| 189 | TORNADOES & SEVERE STORMS | DR | Tornado | 1965-04-14 |
Storm Events in Indiana
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to LaGrange County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 4,886 | 16 | 73 | $57.6M |
| Hail | 1,643 | 0 | 0 | $1.7M |
| Winter Weather | 1,166 | 32 | 80 | $2.5M |
| Flood | 850 | 13 | 3 | $16.0M |
| Flash Flood | 648 | 14 | 5 | $97.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
45
Total Paid
$626.7K
Avg Per Claim
$13.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 62.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$12.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Strong Wind Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Wildfire 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: Strong Wind
Strong Wind covers damaging non-thunderstorm, non-tornadic wind, the kind produced by steep pressure gradients and downslope events. It is a broad, frequent, low-drama hazard: roofs, signage, power lines and high-profile vehicles, spread across a wide area rather than concentrated on a path.
Worth noting for LaGrange County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Strong Wind carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Snowstorm. 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
LaGrange County's closest FEMA peer: Douglas County, WI
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for LaGrange County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
LaGrange County: NRI composite 62.4 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
LaGrange County: 4 of 12 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
LaGrange County shows 12 FEMA declarations, led by Snowstorm.
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 LaGrange County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for LaGrange 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: 62.4 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 12. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 12 FEMA declarations, LaGrange 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 LaGrange County?
The most common disaster type in LaGrange County is Snowstorm, with 5 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Tornado (2), Winter Storm (1).
How does LaGrange County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Indiana average?
The typical Indiana county has 17.1 FEMA declaration records; LaGrange County has 12, or 30% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 42% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has LaGrange County received?
LaGrange County has received 4 major disaster declarations, representing 33% of all 12 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has LaGrange County filed?
LaGrange County has 45 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $626.7K in payments, with an average of $13.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in LaGrange County?
No. In LaGrange County, Strong Wind has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $6.1M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in LaGrange County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in LaGrange County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for LaGrange County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, LaGrange County, Indiana has an overall risk score of 62.4 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Very High, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $12.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to LaGrange County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in LaGrange County is Strong Wind (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hail (Relatively Moderate) and Tornado (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts strong wind here at an average of 5.1 times per year, drawn from 193 historical events on record. 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for LaGrange County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Indiana profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events