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California · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index

Los Angeles County, CA

88 FEMA disaster declarations (1969-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very High. Most common hazard: Fire.

88
FEMA declarations
35
Major disasters
100
NRI risk · Very High
Fire
Top hazard

The verdict

Two federal records point in the busier direction for Los Angeles County. Its 88 FEMA declarations are 3.1 times the California county mean and exceed the count for 99% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 1%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.

Riskiest 1%
of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
Very High
FEMA National Risk Index rating
88
FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
9,103
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.

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FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk

County FIPS 06037 · Los Angeles County 88 declarations · rank 1/3,266

DECL-MEGA · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-TOP · CLEAR-PEER · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-MEGA

  • DECL-MEGA 88
  • MAJOR-LIGHT 40%
  • RANK-TOP #1
  • CLEAR-PEER Riverside
  • NRI-HIGH Very High
  • ACT-HIGH High
  • TYPE-LEAD Fire
  • VS-ST-MEGA 3.1× mean

Nearest declaration peer: Riverside, CA (22 declaration gap)

FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · California state profile

Los Angeles County among high-volume declaration counties

FEMA declaration records among Los Angeles County and nearest peers by total count

declarations

What this shows Los Angeles County carries 88 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1 of 3,266 counties in this registry.

Source FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 As of 2026-08-25

Where Los Angeles County ranks in the national declaration registry

Los Angeles County vs. high-volume counties in this registry

FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Los Angeles County

88 Top 1% higher than 99% of 3,266 counties

This county 0 90 all U.S. counties FEMA tracks, bucketed by value

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

Los Angeles County's FEMA Risk Index score

0/100100/100California avg89/100100/100
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the California county average

What does Los Angeles County's hazard record show?

Reading the federal records together

FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 9,103 claims and $72.4M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $8.0K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.

The declaration register points in the busier direction. Los Angeles County's 88 federal records stand 3.1 times the California county mean of 28.5. 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.

FEMA National Risk Index

This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 100.0/100 (Very High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Very High (roughly $7.6B in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Earthquake stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 11 years here.

85 /100

Historical Activity Index

Very High historical activity

Los Angeles County, CA · 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

88 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (4.2x national county average)

County Disaster Density Very High
25/25

88 declarations (3.1x state county average of 29)

Major Disaster Share Moderate
10/25

35 of 88 declarations are major disasters (40%)

Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20

8 different disaster types declared in Los Angeles County

FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County NRI risk profile 8-axis FEMA National Risk Index radar showing per-hazard scores for Earthquake 92, Flood 92, Hurricane 0, Tornado 70, Wildfire 92, Drought 25, Heat Wave 70, Winter Storm 48. The simple mean of these eight displayed scores is 61 of 100. Earthquake Flood Hurricane Tornado Wildfire Drought Heat Wave Winter Storm 61 8-hazard mean
Los Angeles County NRI risk profile FIPS 06037 · displayed-hazard mean 61/100
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.

FEMA Records

88

Very high volume

Major Disaster share

40%

Mixed major share

NRI risk score

100

Very High

Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release

How often does each hazard strike Los Angeles 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
Earthquake Very High roughly once every 11 years
Riverine Flooding Very High an average of 4 times per year
Wildfire Very High roughly once every 120 years
Heat Wave Relatively High 9.5 modeled event-days per year
Landslide Relatively High an average of 79 times per year
Tornado Relatively High roughly once every 2 years
Lightning Very High an average of 8.4 times per year
Hail Relatively Moderate roughly once every 10 years
Avalanche Relatively High roughly once every 8 years
Coastal Flooding Relatively High an average of 2.2 times per year
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate roughly once every 7 years
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate an average of 6.6 times per year
Tsunami Relatively Low roughly once every 3 years
Drought Relatively Low 82 modeled event-days per year
Cold Wave Very Low roughly once every 31 years

Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release

Disaster Types

Fire 61
Flood 10
Severe Storm 8
Earthquake 3
Biological 2
Freezing 2
Hurricane 1
Coastal Storm 1

What Fire declarations mean here

Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Los Angeles County's record, 69% 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).

Fire Management - 44 50.0%

of all 88 declarations

Major Disaster - 35 39.8%

of all 88 declarations

Emergency - 9 10.2%

of all 88 declarations

FEMA Declarations Timeline

Year Declarations
2025 6
2024 2
2023 4
2021 1
2020 6
2019 3
2018 5
2017 2
2016 4
2014 1
2013 1
2010 2
2009 7
2008 6
2007 4
Show 21 earlier declaration years
2005 4
2004 5
2003 1
2002 3
1998 1
1997 1
1995 2
1994 2
1993 1
1992 2
1991 1
1990 1
1988 2
1983 1
1981 1
1980 1
1979 1
1978 1
1971 1
1970 1
1969 1

Disaster Declarations

How the 88 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.

Download these 88 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.

DR# Title Type Incident Date
5605 CANYON FIRE FM Fire 2025-08-08
5551 HURST FIRE FM Fire 2025-01-08
5550 EATON FIRE FM Fire 2025-01-08
4856 WILDFIRES AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS DR Fire 2025-01-08
5549 PALISADES FIRE FM Fire 2025-01-07
5548 FRANKLIN FIRE FM Fire 2024-12-10
5537 BRIDGE FIRE FM Fire 2024-09-11
4769 SEVERE WINTER STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES DR Severe Storm 2024-04-13
4699 SEVERE WINTER STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES DR Severe Storm 2023-04-03
3592 SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES EM Flood 2023-03-10
4683 SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES DR Flood 2023-01-14
3591 SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES EM Flood 2023-01-09
4569 WILDFIRES DR Fire 2020-10-16
5374 BOBCAT FIRE FM Fire 2020-09-13
4482 COVID-19 PANDEMIC DR Biological 2020-03-22
3428 COVID-19 EM Biological 2020-03-13
5297 GETTY FIRE FM Fire 2019-10-28
5296 TICK FIRE FM Fire 2019-10-24
5293 SADDLERIDGE FIRE FM Fire 2019-10-11
4407 WILDFIRES DR Fire 2018-11-12
Show 68 earlier declaration records
DR# Title Type Incident Date
3409 WILDFIRES EM Fire 2018-11-09
5280 WOOLSEY FIRE FM Fire 2018-11-09
4353 WILDFIRES, FLOODING, MUDFLOWS, AND DEBRIS FLOWS DR Fire 2018-01-02
3396 WILDFIRES EM Fire 2017-12-08
5227 SKIRBALL FIRE FM Fire 2017-12-06
5225 CREEK FIRE FM Fire 2017-12-05
5226 RYE FIRE FM Fire 2017-12-05
5201 LA TUNA FIRE FM Fire 2017-09-02
4305 SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES DR Flood 2017-03-16
5135 SAND FIRE FM Fire 2016-07-23
5132 SAGE FIRE FM Fire 2016-07-09
5129 FISH FIRE FM Fire 2016-06-21
5124 OLD FIRE FM Fire 2016-06-05
5051 COLBY FIRE FM Fire 2014-01-16
5025 POWERHOUSE FIRE FM Fire 2013-06-02
2851 CROWN FIRE FM Fire 2010-07-30
1884 SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND DEBRIS AND MUD FLOWS DR Severe Storm 2010-03-08
2828 PV FIRE FM Fire 2009-08-28
2830 STATION FIRE FM Fire 2009-08-28
1810 WILDFIRES DR Fire 2008-11-18
2791 SAYRE FIRE FM Fire 2008-11-15
2792 FREEWAY FIRE COMPLEX FM Fire 2008-11-15
2789 SESNON FIRE FM Fire 2008-10-13
2788 MAREK FIRE FM Fire 2008-10-12
2763 SANTA ANITA FIRE FM Fire 2008-04-27
1731 WILDFIRES, FLOODING, MUD FLOWS, AND DEBRIS FLOWS DR Fire 2007-10-24
3279 WILDFIRES EM Fire 2007-10-23
2736 RANCH FIRE FM Fire 2007-10-22
2733 BUCKWEED FIRE FM Fire 2007-10-21
2732 CANYON FIRE FM Fire 2007-10-21
2708 CANYON FIRE FM Fire 2007-07-08
2694 ISLAND FIRE FM Fire 2007-05-10
2691 GRIFFITH PARK FIRE FM Fire 2007-05-09
1689 SEVERE FREEZE DR Freezing 2007-03-13
2583 TOPANGA FIRE FM Fire 2005-09-28
3248 HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION EM Hurricane 2005-09-13
1585 SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWS DR Severe Storm 2005-04-14
1577 SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, DEBRIS FLOWS, AND MUDSLIDES DR Severe Storm 2005-02-04
2535 CA-CROWN WILDFIRE-07-21-2004 FM Fire 2004-07-21
2534 CA-FOOTHILL WILDFIRE-07-18-2004 FM Fire 2004-07-18
2528 CA - PINE FIRE - 7-13-2004 FM Fire 2004-07-14
1498 WILDFIRES, FLOODING, MUDFLOW AND DEBRIS FLOW DIRECTLY RELATED T DR Fire 2003-10-27
2502 CA-VERDALE FIRE 10-25-2003 FM Fire 2003-10-25
2466 CA - WILDFIRE (PACIFIC FIRE) - 01-06-2003 FM Fire 2003-01-07
2464 WILLIAMS FIRE FM Fire 2002-09-24
2462 LEONA FIRE FM Fire 2002-09-04
2417 CA - COPPER FIRE - 06-06-2002 FM Fire 2002-06-06
1203 SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING DR Severe Storm 1998-02-09
3120 SEVERE FIRESTORMS EM Fire 1996-10-23
1046 SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING LANDSLIDES, MUD FLOW DR Severe Storm 1995-03-12
1044 SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, MUD FLOWS DR Severe Storm 1995-01-10
1008 NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE DR Earthquake 1994-01-17
1005 FIRES, MUD/LANDSLIDES, FLOODING, SOIL EROSION DR Fire 1993-10-28
979 SEVERE WINTER STORM, MUD & LAND SLIDES, & FLOODING DR Flood 1993-02-03
942 FIRE DURING A PERIOD OF CIVIL UNREST DR Fire 1992-05-02
935 RAIN/SNOW/WIND STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES DR Flood 1992-02-25
894 SEVERE FREEZE DR Freezing 1991-02-11
872 FIRES DR Fire 1990-06-30
812 SEVERE STORMS, HIGH TIDES & FLOODING DR Flood 1988-02-05
799 EARTHQUAKE & AFTERSHOCKS DR Earthquake 1987-10-07
677 COASTAL STORMS, FLOODS, SLIDES & TORNADOES DR Coastal Storm 1983-02-09
635 BRUSH & TIMBER FIRES DR Fire 1980-11-27
615 SEVERE STORMS, MUDSLIDES & FLOODING DR Flood 1980-02-21
3067 BRUSH FIRES EM Fire 1978-10-29
547 COASTAL STORMS, MUDSLIDES & FLOODING DR Flood 1978-02-15
299 SAN FERNANDO EARTHQUAKE DR Earthquake 1971-02-09
295 FOREST & BRUSH FIRES DR Fire 1970-09-29
253 SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING DR Flood 1969-01-26

Storm Events in California

Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Los Angeles County.

Storm Type Events Fatalities Injuries Property Damage
High Wind 4,070 13 27 $228.2M
Flood 3,132 26 25 $985.1M
Heavy Snow 1,814 6 0 $1.6M
Dense Fog 1,605 52 148 $2.8M
Drought 1,421 0 0 $0

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025

NFIP Flood Insurance Claims

Total Claims

9,103

Total Paid

$72.4M

Avg Per Claim

$8.0K

Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data

FEMA National Risk Index

Overall Risk

Very High

Score: 100.0/100

Expected Annual Loss

Very High

$7.6B/year

Social Vulnerability

Relatively Moderate

Community Resilience

Very Low

Hazard Risk Breakdown

Earthquake Very High
Riverine Flooding Very High
Wildfire Very High
Heat Wave Relatively High
Landslide Relatively High
Tornado Relatively High
Lightning Very High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Avalanche Relatively High
Coastal Flooding Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Tsunami Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Hurricane No Rating

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: Earthquake

Earthquake is the model's clearest example of a hazard with no season and no warning. Its expected loss is driven less by how often shaking occurs than by how much of the building stock predates modern seismic codes, so exposure can be high in places where nothing has happened for a long time.

Worth noting for Los Angeles County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Earthquake carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Fire. 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

Los Angeles County's closest FEMA peer: Ascension Parish, LA

Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Los Angeles County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.

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 Los Angeles County - capture-dated entries only.

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume

Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Los Angeles 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: 100.0 (Very High).

4 peers

Similar declaration volume

Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 88. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.

4 peers

Further reading for this county

Understanding disaster data

Los Angeles County's NFIP claims file (9,103 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common disaster type in Los Angeles County?
The most common disaster type in Los Angeles County is Fire, with 61 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (10), Severe Storm (8), Earthquake (3).
How does Los Angeles County's FEMA declaration record compare with the California average?
FEMA lists 88 declaration records for Los Angeles County. That is 209% above the California county mean of 28.5. Its count is also 325% 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 Los Angeles County received?
Los Angeles County has received 35 major disaster declarations, representing 40% of all 88 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Los Angeles County filed?
Los Angeles County has 9,103 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $72.4M in payments, with an average of $8.0K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Los Angeles County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Los Angeles County was 2009, with 7 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1969 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Los Angeles County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Los Angeles County, California has an overall risk score of 100.0 out of 100 (Very High). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Moderate, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very High, representing $7.6B in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Los Angeles County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Los Angeles County is Earthquake (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Riverine Flooding (Very High) and Wildfire (Very High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts earthquake here at roughly once every 11 years. 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.

FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Los Angeles County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · California profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events