FEMA Records
7
Low volume
New Mexico · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Lea County, NM
7 FEMA disaster declarations (1992-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 7
- FEMA declarations
- 3
- Major disasters
- 86
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Start with the local benchmark for Lea County: 7 FEMA declaration records are 44% below the New Mexico county mean, even though the count is higher than 4% of counties in the national registry. On FEMA's distinct National Risk Index model, which combines expected loss with vulnerability and resilience, the county ranks in the riskiest 14%.
- Riskiest 14%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 7
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 207
- 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 Lea County compare?
Lea County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
7 4th percentile higher than 4% 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
Lea County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the New Mexico county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Lea County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $25.1M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Wildfire 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 Lea County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 207 paid claims, totaling $931.3K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $4.5K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a New Mexico county averages 12.5 federal declaration records, while Lea County has 7. The gap is 44% 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 86.0/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $45.2M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Wildfire stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 80 years here.
Declaration frequency
The state comparison is the clearest context for Lea County's moderate federal record. Its 7 declarations sit 44% below the New Mexico county mean, with 3 Major Disaster entries among them. 2 records concern Fire, the file's most frequent incident type. Spread across 28 years, the registry rate is 0.3 per year. FEMA reports authorized programs separately from the DR, EM, and FM codes.
36 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Lea County, NM · 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) Low
5/30
7 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
7/25
7 declarations (0.6x state county average of 12)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
11/25
3 of 7 declarations are major disasters (43%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Lea County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
Moderate
vs. New Mexico Avg
-44%
State avg: 12.5
vs. National Avg
-66%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.3
Over 28 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Lea 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
43%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
86
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Lea 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 80 years |
| Hail | Relatively High | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 48 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 6.4 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.4 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 115 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1 time per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 3.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 117 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,976 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Biological 2
Fire 2
Severe Storm 1
Hurricane 1
Flood 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Lea County's record, 29% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
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 - 3 42.9%
of all 7 declarations
Emergency - 3 42.9%
of all 7 declarations
Fire Management - 1 14.3%
of all 7 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 7 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 7 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4529 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3460 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4199 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-10-29 |
| 2600 | SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2006-01-02 |
| 3229 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-07 |
| 3154 | SEVERE FIRE THREATS | EM | Fire | 2000-05-10 |
| 945 | THUNDERSTORMS, HAIL & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1992-06-18 |
Storm Events in New Mexico
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Lea County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drought | 3,382 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 2,351 | 0 | 3 | $18.9M |
| Hail | 1,669 | 1 | 24 | $17.2M |
| Heavy Snow | 986 | 6 | 72 | $2.5M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 952 | 1 | 13 | $25.1M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
207
Total Paid
$931.3K
Avg Per Claim
$4.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 86.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$45.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Wildfire Relatively High
Hail Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Low
Hurricane Very 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: Wildfire
Wildfire risk in the model reflects fuel, terrain, weather and how much development sits in the wildland-urban interface. It is one of the few hazards where the exposure is materially changed by land management and building choices, not only by where the county happens to be.
For Lea County the two measures on this page point the same way: Wildfire is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Fire 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
Lea County's closest FEMA peer: Jackson County, OK
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Lea County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Lea County: NRI composite 86.0 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar Major-disaster share
Lea County: 3 of 7 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Lea County shows 7 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
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 Lea County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Lea County's NFIP claims file (207 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 Lea County?
The most common disaster type in Lea County is Fire, with 2 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Severe Storm (1), Hurricane (1).
How does Lea County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New Mexico average?
The typical New Mexico county has 12.5 FEMA declaration records; Lea County has 7, or 44% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 66% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Lea County received?
Lea County has received 3 major disaster declarations, representing 43% of all 7 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Lea County filed?
Lea County has 207 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $931.3K in payments, with an average of $4.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Lea County?
No. In Lea County, Wildfire has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $25.1M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Lea County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Lea County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1992 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Lea County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Lea County, New Mexico has an overall risk score of 86.0 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively High and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $45.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Lea County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Lea County is Wildfire (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hail (Relatively High) and Lightning (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts wildfire here at roughly once every 80 years. 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.
What this means for Lea County
Against a New Mexico county mean of 12 declarations, Lea County, NM records 7, or 44% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as moderate activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (3 of 7) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. New Mexico overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 4% of recorded county totals, but its own New Mexico 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.