FEMA Records
22
Above median
Alabama · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Lawrence County, AL
22 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 22
- FEMA declarations
- 13
- Major disasters
- 69
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Lawrence County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 22 declarations, more than 57% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 15% below the Alabama county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 31%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 31%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 22
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 46
- 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 01079 · Lawrence County 22 declarations · rank 1384/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 22
- MAJOR-MID 59%
- RANK-LOWER #1,384
- PHOTO-FINISH Hardy
- NRI-LOW 69
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-BELOW -15%
Nearest declaration peer: Hardy, WV (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Alabama state profile
Lawrence County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Lawrence County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Hardy · near 22
Hardy · near
22 declarations
- Lawrence · this county 22
Lawrence · this county
22 declarations
- Prairie · near 22
Prairie · near
22 declarations
- St. Francis · near 22
St. Francis · near
22 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Lawrence County carries 22 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1384 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Lawrence County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Lawrence County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Lawrence County
22 Top 43% higher than 57% 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
Lawrence County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Lawrence County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $7.5M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Tornado 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 Lawrence County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 69.3/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $20.5M in annualized losses), and a Relatively High social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Tornado stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 1 years here, based on 44 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 46 claims and $792.5K 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 Alabama county averages 25.8 federal declaration records, while Lawrence County has 22. The gap is 15% 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.
60 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Lawrence County, AL · 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
16/30
22 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
11/25
22 declarations (0.9x state county average of 26)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
13 of 22 declarations are major disasters (59%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Lawrence County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Lawrence 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
69
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Lawrence 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 62 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 292 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 8.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 22 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 5.7 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 30 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 3,101 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 4.5 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 4.4 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 9
Hurricane 6
Biological 2
Tornado 2
Snowstorm 1
Flood 1
Drought 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Lawrence County's record, 41% 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 - 13 59.1%
of all 22 declarations
Emergency - 9 40.9%
of all 22 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 22 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 22 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3618 | HURRICANE HELENE | EM | Hurricane | 2024-09-26 |
| 3545 | HURRICANE SALLY | EM | Hurricane | 2020-09-14 |
| 4503 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-29 |
| 3472 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3389 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-11 |
| 4251 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-01-21 |
| 1971 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-04-28 |
| 3319 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-04-27 |
| 3292 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-30 |
| 3237 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1549 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-15 |
| 1466 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-05-12 |
| 1442 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-11-14 |
| 1399 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-12-07 |
| 1261 | RIV-SEVERE WINTER WX 12/23/98 | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-01-15 |
| 1104 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, ICE AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-02-23 |
| 1013 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FREEZING, FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-03-03 |
| 3096 | SEVERE SNOWFALL, WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-15 |
| 890 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1991-01-04 |
| 3045 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-07-20 |
Show 2 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 422 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1974-04-04 |
| 369 | TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1973-03-27 |
Storm Events in Alabama
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Lawrence County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 7,827 | 16 | 115 | $51.7M |
| Hail | 1,349 | 0 | 0 | $5.0K |
| Flash Flood | 1,047 | 17 | 7 | $12.8M |
| Tornado | 896 | 57 | 343 | $49.7M |
| Drought | 857 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
46
Total Paid
$792.5K
Avg Per Claim
$17.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 69.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$20.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Tornado Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Hail Very Low
Winter Weather 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: Tornado
Tornado exposure is the most spatially concentrated in the model: total destruction along a narrow corridor with intact property either side. County-level averages therefore understate severity badly for anyone actually in the path, and overstate it for everyone else.
For Lawrence County the two measures on this page point the same way: Tornado is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Severe Storm 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
Lawrence County's closest FEMA peer: Penobscot County, ME
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Lawrence County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Lawrence County shows 22 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Lawrence County: 13 of 22 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Lawrence County: NRI composite 69.3 (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 Lawrence County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Lawrence 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: 69.3 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 22. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 22 FEMA declarations, Lawrence 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 Lawrence County?
The most common disaster type in Lawrence County is Severe Storm, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (6), Biological (2), Tornado (2).
How does Lawrence County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Alabama average?
The typical Alabama county has 25.8 FEMA declaration records; Lawrence County has 22, or 15% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 6% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Lawrence County received?
Lawrence County has received 13 major disaster declarations, representing 59% of all 22 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Lawrence County filed?
Lawrence County has 46 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $792.5K in payments, with an average of $17.2K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Lawrence County?
No. In Lawrence County, Tornado has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $7.5M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Lawrence County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Lawrence County was 2020, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Lawrence County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Lawrence County, Alabama has an overall risk score of 69.3 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $20.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Lawrence County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Lawrence County is Tornado (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Relatively High) and Earthquake (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts tornado here at roughly once every 1 years, drawn from 44 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 Lawrence County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Alabama profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events