FEMA Records
37
Very high volume
Florida · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Lake County, FL
37 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 37
- FEMA declarations
- 22
- Major disasters
- 92
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Lake County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 37 declarations, more than 95% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 8% below the Florida county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 8%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 8%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 37
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 470
- 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 Lake County compare?
Lake County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
37 Top 5% higher than 95% 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
Lake County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Florida county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Lake County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $46.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Strong Wind carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Very 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 Lake County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 470 paid claims, totaling $7.3M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $15.5K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Florida county averages 40.4 federal declaration records, while Lake County has 37. The gap is 8% 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 91.9/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $102.3M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Strong Wind stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1.2 times per year here, based on 47 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
Nationally, Lake County's 37 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within Florida, however, the count is 8% below the county mean. 22 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Hurricane, appearing 17 times. The full 48-year record averages 0.8 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
71 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Lake County, FL · 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) Very High
27/30
37 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.8x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
11/25
37 declarations (0.9x state county average of 40)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
22 of 37 declarations are major disasters (59%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Lake County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Florida Avg
-8%
State avg: 40.4
vs. National Avg
+79%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.8
Over 48 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Lake 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
92
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Lake 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 | Very High | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 92 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 164 years |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 4 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 1.9 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 4.1 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2,105 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 2.5 times per year |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 16 modeled event-days per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 17
Severe Storm 5
Freezing 5
Tropical Storm 4
Fire 3
Biological 2
Tornado 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Lake County's federal record, 46% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
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 - 22 59.5%
of all 37 declarations
Emergency - 13 35.1%
of all 37 declarations
Fire Management - 2 5.4%
of all 37 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 4 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 4 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 2 | |
Show 5 earlier declaration years
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1985 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 37 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 37 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4834 | HURRICANE MILTON | DR | Hurricane | 2024-10-11 |
| 3622 | HURRICANE MILTON | EM | Hurricane | 2024-10-07 |
| 4806 | HURRICANE DEBBY | DR | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-10 |
| 3605 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-03 |
| 4734 | HURRICANE IDALIA | DR | Hurricane | 2023-08-31 |
| 3596 | TROPICAL STORM IDALIA | EM | Tropical Storm | 2023-08-28 |
| 4680 | HURRICANE NICOLE | DR | Hurricane | 2022-12-13 |
| 3587 | TROPICAL STORM NICOLE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2022-11-08 |
| 4673 | HURRICANE IAN | DR | Hurricane | 2022-09-29 |
| 3584 | TROPICAL STORM IAN | EM | Hurricane | 2022-09-24 |
| 3561 | TROPICAL STORM ELSA | EM | Severe Storm | 2021-07-04 |
| 4486 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3432 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3419 | HURRICANE DORIAN | EM | Hurricane | 2019-08-30 |
| 4337 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-10 |
| 3385 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-05 |
| 4283 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | DR | Hurricane | 2016-10-08 |
| 3377 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | EM | Hurricane | 2016-10-06 |
| 1785 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-08-24 |
| 3288 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | EM | Severe Storm | 2008-08-21 |
Show 17 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2687 | DELAND FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2007-05-02 |
| 1679 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-02-03 |
| 3220 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1561 | HURRICANE JEANNE | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-26 |
| 1551 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-16 |
| 1545 | HURRICANE FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-04 |
| 1539 | TROPICAL STORM BONNIE AND HURRICANE CHARLEY | DR | Hurricane | 2004-08-13 |
| 1359 | SEVERE FREEZE | DR | Freezing | 2001-02-05 |
| 2299 | WITHLACOOCHEE FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2000-05-19 |
| 3150 | TROPICAL STORM IRENE - FLORIDA | EM | Hurricane | 1999-10-15 |
| 1223 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | DR | Fire | 1998-06-18 |
| 1195 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-01-06 |
| 982 | TORNADOES, FLOODING, HIGH WINDS & TIDES, FREEZING | DR | Tornado | 1993-03-13 |
| 851 | SEVERE FREEZE | DR | Freezing | 1990-01-15 |
| 732 | SEVERE FREEZE | DR | Freezing | 1985-03-18 |
| 698 | FREEZING TEMPERATURES | DR | Freezing | 1984-03-29 |
| 526 | SEVERE WINTER WEATHER | DR | Freezing | 1977-01-31 |
Storm Events in Florida
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Lake County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,243 | 17 | 45 | $24.8M |
| Hail | 1,012 | 0 | 0 | $564.6K |
| Heavy Rain | 865 | 2 | 3 | $200.0K |
| Flood | 826 | 9 | 0 | $2.0B |
| Tropical Storm | 767 | 92 | 6 | $4.9B |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
470
Total Paid
$7.3M
Avg Per Claim
$15.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 91.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$102.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Strong Wind Very High
Lightning Very High
Tornado Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Winter Weather No Rating
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) 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 Lake County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Strong Wind carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. 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
Lake County's closest FEMA peer: Ulster County, NY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Lake County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Lake County shows 37 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Lake County: 22 of 37 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Lake County: NRI composite 91.9 (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 Lake County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Lake County's NFIP claims file (470 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 Lake County?
The most common disaster type in Lake County is Hurricane, with 17 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (5), Freezing (5), Tropical Storm (4).
How does Lake County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Florida average?
The typical Florida county has 40.4 FEMA declaration records; Lake County has 37, or 8% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 79% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Lake County received?
Lake County has received 22 major disaster declarations, representing 59% of all 37 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Lake County filed?
Lake County has 470 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $7.3M in payments, with an average of $15.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Lake County?
No. In Lake County, Strong Wind has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $46.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Lake County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Lake County was 2004, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Lake County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Lake County, Florida has an overall risk score of 91.9 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $102.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Lake County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Lake County as of the latest release is Strong Wind (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Very High) and Tornado (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts strong wind here at an average of 1.2 times per year, drawn from 47 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 Lake County
Against a Florida county mean of 40 declarations, Lake County, FL records 37, or 8% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (22 of 37) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Florida overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 95% of recorded county totals, but its own Florida 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.