FEMA Records
19
Below median
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Lavaca County, TX
19 FEMA disaster declarations (1967-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 19
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 79
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Lavaca County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 19 declarations, more than 41% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 9% below the Texas county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 21%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 21%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 19
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 115
- 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 48285 · Lavaca County 19 declarations · rank 1832/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 19
- MAJOR-MID 58%
- RANK-LOWER #1,832
- PHOTO-FINISH Bartow
- NRI-LOW 79
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -9%
Nearest declaration peer: Bartow, GA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
Lavaca County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Lavaca County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Bartow · near 19
Bartow · near
19 declarations
- Lavaca · this county 19
Lavaca · this county
19 declarations
- Union · near 19
Union · near
19 declarations
- Warren · near 19
Warren · near
19 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Lavaca County carries 19 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1832 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Lavaca County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Lavaca County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Lavaca County
19 41st percentile higher than 41% 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
Lavaca County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Lavaca County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $22.9M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), while Cold Wave carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 Lavaca County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 115 paid claims, totaling $1.5M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $13.0K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Texas county averages 20.9 federal declaration records, while Lavaca County has 19. The gap is 9% 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 78.9/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $33.8M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. 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 roughly once every 2 years here, based on 8 historical events on record.
57 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Lavaca County, TX · 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
14/30
19 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
11/25
19 declarations (0.9x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
11 of 19 declarations are major disasters (58%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Lavaca County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Lavaca 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
58%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
79
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Lavaca 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 | roughly once every 2 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.6 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 10 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 58 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 54 modeled event-days per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 11 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,282 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,506 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 9 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 8
Flood 3
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Fire 2
Severe Storm 1
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Lavaca County's federal record, 42% 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 - 11 57.9%
of all 19 declarations
Emergency - 8 42.1%
of all 19 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1981 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 19 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 19 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4798 | HURRICANE BERYL | DR | Hurricane | 2024-07-09 |
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 4485 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3458 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4332 | HURRICANE HARVEY | DR | Hurricane | 2017-08-25 |
| 3294 | HURRICANE IKE | EM | Hurricane | 2008-09-10 |
| 3290 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-29 |
| 1624 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-11 |
| 1606 | HURRICANE RITA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-09-24 |
| 3261 | HURRICANE RITA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-21 |
| 3216 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-02 |
| 3142 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARDS | EM | Fire | 1999-09-01 |
| 1257 | TX-FLOODING 10/18/98 | DR | Flood | 1998-10-21 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 1041 | SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1994-10-18 |
| 3113 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | EM | Drought | 1993-09-10 |
| 646 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1981-09-21 |
| 232 | HURRICANE BEULAH | DR | Hurricane | 1967-09-28 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Lavaca County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 14,072 | 0 | 15 | $7.4B |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 10,293 | 41 | 141 | $369.9M |
| Drought | 7,032 | 0 | 0 | $86.0K |
| Flash Flood | 4,728 | 338 | 24 | $47.6B |
| Heat | 4,079 | 119 | 405 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
115
Total Paid
$1.5M
Avg Per Claim
$13.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 78.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$33.8M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Landslide 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 Lavaca 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 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
Lavaca County's closest FEMA peer: Kootenai County, ID
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Lavaca County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Lavaca County: NRI composite 78.9 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Lavaca County: 11 of 19 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Lavaca County shows 19 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
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 Lavaca County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Lavaca 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: 78.9 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 19. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Lavaca County's NFIP claims file (115 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).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Lavaca County?
The most common disaster type in Lavaca County is Hurricane, with 8 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (3), Severe Ice Storm (2), Biological (2).
How does Lavaca County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
The typical Texas county has 20.9 FEMA declaration records; Lavaca County has 19, or 9% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 8% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Lavaca County received?
Lavaca County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 58% of all 19 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Lavaca County filed?
Lavaca County has 115 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.5M in payments, with an average of $13.0K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Lavaca County?
No. In Lavaca County, Cold Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $22.9M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Lavaca County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Lavaca County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1967 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Lavaca County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Lavaca County, Texas has an overall risk score of 78.9 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively High and community resilience is Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $33.8M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Lavaca County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Lavaca County is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Riverine Flooding (Relatively Moderate) and Hurricane (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at roughly once every 2 years, drawn from 8 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Lavaca County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events