FEMA Records
17
Below median
Washington · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Lincoln County, WA
17 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 17
- FEMA declarations
- 12
- Major disasters
- 55
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Lincoln County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 17 declarations, more than 32% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 32% below the Washington county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 45%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 45%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 17
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 12
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 53043 · Lincoln County 17 declarations · rank 2124/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 17
- MAJOR-MID 71%
- RANK-LOWER #2,124
- PHOTO-FINISH Curry
- NRI-LOW 55
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-BELOW -32%
Nearest declaration peer: Curry, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Washington state profile
Lincoln County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Lincoln County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Curry · near 17
Curry · near
17 declarations
- Lincoln · this county 17
Lincoln · this county
17 declarations
- Murray · near 17
Murray · near
17 declarations
- Washington · near 17
Washington · near
17 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Lincoln County carries 17 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2124 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Lincoln County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Lincoln County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Lincoln County
17 32nd percentile higher than 32% 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
Lincoln County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Lincoln County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $5.0M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Wildfire 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 Lincoln County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 54.9/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Very Low (roughly $13.6M in annualized losses), and a Relatively High social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Moderate community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Wildfire carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 147 years here.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 12 claims and $38.8K 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 Washington county averages 24.9 federal declaration records, while Lincoln County has 17. The gap is 32% 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.
57 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Lincoln County, WA · 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
12/30
17 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.8x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
9/25
17 declarations (0.7x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
12 of 17 declarations are major disasters (71%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Lincoln County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Lincoln 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
71%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
55
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Lincoln 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 Moderate | roughly once every 147 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 30 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 281 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 4.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 13 times per year |
| Drought | Very Low | 14 modeled event-days per year |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 909 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 13 times per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 10 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 5
Flood 4
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 1
Volcanic Eruption 1
Drought 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Lincoln 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 - 12 70.6%
of all 17 declarations
Emergency - 3 17.6%
of all 17 declarations
Fire Management - 2 11.8%
of all 17 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 17 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 17 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4584 | WILDFIRES AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Fire | 2021-02-04 |
| 4481 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-22 |
| 3427 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5266 | ANGEL SPRINGS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2018-08-04 |
| 4309 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2017-04-21 |
| 4249 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-01-15 |
| 4243 | WILDFIRES AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Fire | 2015-10-20 |
| 5063 | WATERMELON HILL FIRE | FM | Fire | 2014-07-19 |
| 1825 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND RECORD AND NEAR RECORD SNOW | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-03-02 |
| 1817 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, LANDSLIDES, MUDSLIDES, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2009-01-30 |
| 3227 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-07 |
| 1172 | HEAVY RAINS, SNOW MELT, FLOODING, LAND & MUD SLIDES | DR | Flood | 1997-04-02 |
| 1159 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, LAND & MUDS SLIDES,FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-17 |
| 1100 | HIGH WINDS, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-02-09 |
| 922 | FIRES | DR | Fire | 1991-11-13 |
| 623 | VOLCANIC ERUPTION, MT. ST. HELENS | DR | Volcanic Eruption | 1980-05-21 |
| 3037 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-03-31 |
Storm Events in Washington
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Lincoln County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Snow | 1,700 | 5 | 7 | $2.3M |
| High Wind | 614 | 15 | 6 | $1.1B |
| Wildfire | 299 | 4 | 4 | $1.8B |
| Winter Weather | 259 | 9 | 62 | $1.1M |
| Flood | 231 | 4 | 0 | $391.2M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
12
Total Paid
$38.8K
Avg Per Claim
$3.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 54.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$13.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Avalanche Very Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Drought Very Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Lightning Very Low
Tornado 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 Lincoln County the two measures on this page point the same way: Wildfire is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), 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
Lincoln County's closest FEMA peer: Benton County, MS
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Lincoln County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Lincoln County shows 17 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
Lincoln County: 12 of 17 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Lincoln County: NRI composite 54.9 (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 Lincoln County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Lincoln 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: 54.9 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 17. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 17 FEMA declarations, Lincoln 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 Lincoln County?
The most common disaster type in Lincoln County is Fire, with 5 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (4), Severe Storm (3), Biological (2).
How does Lincoln County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Washington average?
The typical Washington county has 24.9 FEMA declaration records; Lincoln County has 17, or 32% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 18% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Lincoln County received?
Lincoln County has received 12 major disaster declarations, representing 71% of all 17 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Lincoln County filed?
Lincoln County has 12 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $38.8K in payments, with an average of $3.2K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Lincoln County?
No. In Lincoln County, Wildfire has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $5.0M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Lincoln County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Lincoln County was 1997, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Lincoln County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Lincoln County, Washington has an overall risk score of 54.9 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $13.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Lincoln County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Lincoln County is Wildfire (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Landslide (Relatively Moderate) and Cold Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts wildfire here at roughly once every 147 years. 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Lincoln County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Washington profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events