FEMA Records
41
Very high volume
Florida · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Liberty County, FL
41 FEMA disaster declarations (1986-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 41
- FEMA declarations
- 25
- Major disasters
- 13
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Liberty County. Its 41 FEMA declarations are 2% above the Florida county mean and exceed the count for 97% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 13%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 13%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 41
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 9
- 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 Liberty County compare?
Liberty County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
41 Top 3% higher than 97% 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
Liberty County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Florida county average
What does Liberty County's hazard record show?
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 41 entries for Liberty County, including 25 Major Disaster records, 2% above the Florida county mean. Across the 38-year span, that works out to 1.1 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 22 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's National Risk Index places this county in the low end of the national distribution, composite score 12.7/100 (Very Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $4.8M in annualized losses). Two modifiers shape how that exposure becomes real-world harm here: social vulnerability (Relatively Moderate) and community resilience (Relatively Low). Among the 18 modeled hazards, Hurricane carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 4 years here, based on 98 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 9 claims and $131.6K 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.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Liberty County's 41 federal records stand 2% above the Florida county mean of 40.4. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
73 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Liberty 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
30/30
41 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (2.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
41 declarations (1.0x state county average of 40)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
25 of 41 declarations are major disasters (61%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Liberty County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Florida Avg
+2%
State avg: 40.4
vs. National Avg
+98%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
1.1
Over 38 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Liberty 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
61%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
13
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Liberty 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 86 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 353 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 83 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 6.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,175 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 21 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
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 22
Severe Storm 8
Tropical Storm 4
Fire 3
Biological 2
Flood 2
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Liberty County's federal record, 54% 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 - 25 61.0%
of all 41 declarations
Emergency - 15 36.6%
of all 41 declarations
Fire Management - 1 2.4%
of all 41 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 5 | |
| 2023 | 3 | |
| 2022 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2019 | 3 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 3 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
Show 4 earlier declaration years
| 1998 | 4 | |
| 1994 | 2 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 41 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 41 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4828 | HURRICANE HELENE | DR | Hurricane | 2024-09-28 |
| 3615 | TROPICAL STORM HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-24 |
| 4806 | HURRICANE DEBBY | DR | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-10 |
| 3605 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-03 |
| 4794 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-06-17 |
| 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 |
| 4673 | HURRICANE IAN | DR | Hurricane | 2022-09-29 |
| 3584 | TROPICAL STORM IAN | EM | Hurricane | 2022-09-24 |
| 3562 | TROPICAL STORM FRED | EM | Hurricane | 2021-08-16 |
| 4564 | HURRICANE SALLY | DR | Hurricane | 2020-09-23 |
| 3546 | HURRICANE SALLY | EM | Hurricane | 2020-09-15 |
| 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 |
| 4399 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | DR | Hurricane | 2018-10-11 |
| 3405 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | EM | Hurricane | 2018-10-09 |
| 4337 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-10 |
| 3385 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-05 |
Show 21 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4280 | HURRICANE HERMINE | DR | Hurricane | 2016-09-28 |
| 4068 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-07-03 |
| 1831 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-04-21 |
| 1785 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-08-24 |
| 3288 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | EM | Severe Storm | 2008-08-21 |
| 3220 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1595 | HURRICANE DENNIS | DR | Hurricane | 2005-07-10 |
| 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 |
| 1381 | TROPICAL STORM ALLISON | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-06-17 |
| 3139 | FL-FIRES 04/15/99 | EM | Fire | 1999-04-27 |
| 2255 | FL-FIRES 04/13/99 | FM | Fire | 1999-04-17 |
| 1249 | HURRICANE GEORGES | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-28 |
| 3131 | HURRICANE GRORGES | EM | Hurricane | 1998-09-25 |
| 1223 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | DR | Fire | 1998-06-18 |
| 1195 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-01-06 |
| 1035 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (TROPICAL STORM ALBERTO) | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-07-10 |
| 3114 | TROPICAL STORM ALBERTO | EM | Flood | 1994-07-08 |
| 862 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-04-03 |
| 756 | HURRICANE KATE | DR | Hurricane | 1985-12-03 |
Storm Events in Florida
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Liberty 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
9
Total Paid
$131.6K
Avg Per Claim
$14.6K
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
Very Low
Score: 12.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$4.8M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Drought Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Hail Very Low
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: Hurricane
Hurricane exposure in the model bundles the three ways a tropical system does harm, which arrive on different timescales and are insured differently: wind, storm surge on the coast, and rainfall flooding that can reach far inland well after landfall.
For Liberty County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), and Hurricane 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
Liberty County's closest FEMA peer: Essex County, MA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Liberty County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Liberty County shows 41 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Liberty County: 25 of 41 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Liberty County: NRI composite 12.7 (Very 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 Liberty County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 41 FEMA declarations, Liberty 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Liberty County?
The most common disaster type in Liberty County is Hurricane, with 22 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (8), Tropical Storm (4), Fire (3).
How does Liberty County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Florida average?
FEMA lists 41 declaration records for Liberty County. That is 2% above the Florida county mean of 40.4. Its count is also 98% above the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Liberty County received?
Liberty County has received 25 major disaster declarations, representing 61% of all 41 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Liberty County filed?
Liberty County has 9 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $131.6K in payments, with an average of $14.6K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Liberty County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Liberty County was 2024, with 5 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1986 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Liberty County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Liberty County, Florida has an overall risk score of 12.7 out of 100 (Very Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Moderate, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $4.8M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Liberty County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Liberty County as of the latest release is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Relatively Moderate) and Wildfire (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 4 years, drawn from 98 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.
What this means for Liberty County
Liberty County, FL has 41 federal declaration records, 2% more than the Florida county mean of 40; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 25 of 41 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Florida overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Florida mean and the totals for 97% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- A short NFIP claims file cannot establish low flood exposure; the data guide explains the limits of each federal measure. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
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.