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New Mexico · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index

Luna County, NM

7 FEMA disaster declarations (1999-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.

7
FEMA declarations
4
Major disasters
52
NRI risk · Relatively Low
Severe Storm
Top hazard

The verdict

Start with the local benchmark for Luna 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 48%.

Riskiest 48%
of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
Relatively Low
FEMA National Risk Index rating
7
FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
4
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.

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How does Luna County compare?

Luna County vs. all counties in this dataset

FEMA disaster declarations, all-time

7 4th percentile higher than 4% 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 · 2026-08-03

Luna County's FEMA Risk Index score

FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the New Mexico county average

0/100100/100New Mexico avg59/10051.6/100
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 Luna County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $5.5M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Drought 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 Luna County's hazard record show?

FEMA National Risk Index

This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 51.6/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Very Low (roughly $11.0M in annualized losses), and a Very High social-vulnerability profile combined with Very Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Drought stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 117 modeled event-days per year here, based on 3,185 historical events on record.

Declaration frequency

The state comparison is the clearest context for Luna County's moderate federal record. Its 7 declarations sit 44% below the New Mexico county mean, with 4 Major Disaster entries among them. 3 records concern Severe Storm, the file's most frequent incident type. Spread across 21 years, the registry rate is 0.3 per year. FEMA reports authorized programs separately from the DR, EM, and FM codes.

Reading the federal records together

This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 4 claims and $151.0K 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 New Mexico county averages 12.5 federal declaration records, while Luna 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.

36 /100

Historical Activity Index

Moderate historical activity

Luna 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 High
14/25

4 of 7 declarations are major disasters (57%)

Hazard Diversity High
10/20

4 different disaster types declared in Luna 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 21 years

FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Luna County

Luna County NRI risk profile 8-axis FEMA National Risk Index radar showing per-hazard scores for Earthquake 8, Flood 25, Hurricane 8, Tornado 8, Wildfire 25, Drought 70, Heat Wave 48, Winter Storm 25. The simple mean of these eight displayed scores is 27 of 100. Earthquake Flood Hurricane Tornado Wildfire Drought Heat Wave Winter Storm 27 8-hazard mean
Luna County NRI risk profile FIPS 35029 · displayed-hazard mean 27/100
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

7

Low volume

Major Disaster share

57%

Major-heavy

NRI risk score

52

Relatively Low

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

How often does each hazard strike Luna 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
Drought Relatively High 117 modeled event-days per year
Wildfire Relatively Low roughly once every 1,206 years
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate 3.6 modeled event-days per year
Lightning Relatively Moderate an average of 52 times per year
Winter Weather Relatively Low an average of 2.6 times per year
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low an average of 1.1 times per year
Earthquake Very Low roughly once every 778 years
Cold Wave Relatively Low roughly once every 10 years
Hail Very Low roughly once every 4 years
Avalanche Very Low roughly once every 100 years
Ice Storm Very Low roughly once every 67 years
Hurricane Very Low roughly once every 182 years
Tornado Very Low roughly once every 17 years
Strong Wind Very Low roughly once every 5 years
Landslide Very Low roughly once every 4 years

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

Disaster Types

Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Fire 1

What Severe Storm declarations mean here

Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Luna County's record, 43% 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 - 4 57.1%

of all 7 declarations

Emergency - 3 42.9%

of all 7 declarations

FEMA Declarations Timeline

Year Declarations
2020 2
2013 1
2006 1
2005 1
2000 1
1999 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
4148 SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING DR Severe Storm 2013-09-30
1659 SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING DR Severe Storm 2006-08-30
3229 HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION EM Hurricane 2005-09-07
3154 SEVERE FIRE THREATS EM Fire 2000-05-10
1301 SEVERE ICE STORMS, FLOODING AND HEAVY RAINS DR Severe Storm 1999-09-22

Storm Events in New Mexico

Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Luna 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

4

Total Paid

$151.0K

Avg Per Claim

$37.8K

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

FEMA National Risk Index

Overall Risk

Relatively Low

Score: 51.6/100

Expected Annual Loss

Very Low

$11.0M/year

Social Vulnerability

Very High

Community Resilience

Very Low

Hazard Risk Breakdown

Drought Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Hail Very Low
Avalanche Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Strong Wind 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: Drought

Drought is the slowest of the modeled hazards and the least visible: it does its damage to agriculture, water supply and soil over seasons rather than hours, so it rarely produces the kind of single-day damage that drives a disaster declaration. FEMA scores it in event-days per year rather than discrete events for exactly that reason.

Worth noting for Luna County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Severe Storm. 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

Luna County's closest FEMA peer: Crook County, WY

Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Luna 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 Luna County - capture-dated entries only.

Further reading for this county

Understanding disaster data

FEMA's National Risk Index flags Drought as the top modeled exposure here (Relatively High); the guide explains how that model differs from declaration counts.
More PlainHazard guides

Related

New Mexico State Profile All Counties Most Disasters All Hazard Types

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common disaster type in Luna County?
The most common disaster type in Luna County is Severe Storm, with 3 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Hurricane (1), Fire (1).
How does Luna County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New Mexico average?
The typical New Mexico county has 12.5 FEMA declaration records; Luna 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 Luna County received?
Luna County has received 4 major disaster declarations, representing 57% of all 7 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Luna County filed?
Luna County has 4 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $151.0K in payments, with an average of $37.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Luna County?
No. In Luna County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $5.5M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Luna County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Luna County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1999 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Luna County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Luna County, New Mexico has an overall risk score of 51.6 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Very High, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $11.0M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Luna County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Luna County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Low) and Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 117 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 3,185 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 Luna County

Against a New Mexico county mean of 12 declarations, Luna County, NM records 7, or 44% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as moderate activity.

  • Major Disaster is the largest group (4 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
  • A short NFIP claims file cannot establish low flood exposure; the data guide explains the limits of each federal measure. 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
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.