FEMA Records
27
High volume
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Madison County, TX
27 FEMA disaster declarations (1988-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 27
- FEMA declarations
- 19
- Major disasters
- 35
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Madison County. Its 27 FEMA declarations are 29% above the Texas county mean and exceed the count for 78% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 35%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 35%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 27
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 26
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 48313 · Madison County 27 declarations · rank 642/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 27
- MAJOR-MID 70%
- RANK-MID #642
- PHOTO-FINISH Greene
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-ABOVE +29%
Nearest declaration peer: Greene, MO (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
Madison County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Madison County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Coal · near 27
Coal · near
27 declarations
- Greene · near 27
Greene · near
27 declarations
- Madison · this county 27
Madison · this county
27 declarations
- Warren · near 27
Warren · near
27 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Madison County carries 27 FEMA declaration records, ranked 642 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Madison County ranks in the national declaration registry
Madison County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Madison County
27 Top 22% higher than 78% 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
Madison County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Madison County is led by Cold Wave (about $2.6M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Drought 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 Madison County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 34.9/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $9.2M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively Moderate) and community resilience (Very Low) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Drought carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 29 modeled event-days per year here, based on 805 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 26 claims and $451.9K 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. Madison County's 27 federal records stand 29% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. 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.
74 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Madison County, TX · 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) High
20/30
27 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
16/25
27 declarations (1.3x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
19 of 27 declarations are major disasters (70%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
9 different disaster types declared in Madison County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Madison 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
70%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
35
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Madison 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 Moderate | 29 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 14 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 61 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 630 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 12 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.6 times per year |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 2.3 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 2.4 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,605 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 17 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 7
Flood 6
Severe Storm 4
Fire 3
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 1
Drought 1
Tornado 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Madison County's federal record, 26% 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 - 19 70.4%
of all 27 declarations
Emergency - 8 29.6%
of all 27 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
Show 4 earlier declaration years
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1988 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 27 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 27 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4798 | HURRICANE BERYL | DR | Hurricane | 2024-07-09 |
| 4781 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2024-05-17 |
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 3540 | TROPICAL STORMS MARCO AND LAURA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-24 |
| 4485 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3458 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4416 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-02-25 |
| 4332 | HURRICANE HARVEY | DR | Hurricane | 2017-08-25 |
| 4272 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-06-11 |
| 4266 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-03-19 |
| 4223 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-29 |
| 1791 | HURRICANE IKE | DR | Hurricane | 2008-09-13 |
| 3284 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-03-14 |
| 1709 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-06-29 |
| 1624 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-11 |
| 1606 | HURRICANE RITA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-09-24 |
| 3261 | HURRICANE RITA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-21 |
| 3216 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-02 |
| 1379 | TX-TROPICAL STORM ALLISON-06-06-2001 | DR | Coastal Storm | 2001-06-09 |
Show 7 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3142 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARDS | EM | Fire | 1999-09-01 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 1041 | SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1994-10-18 |
| 3113 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | EM | Drought | 1993-09-10 |
| 930 | SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS | DR | Flood | 1991-12-26 |
| 863 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-05-02 |
| 802 | SEVERE STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1987-11-20 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Madison County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 14,072 | 0 | 15 | $7.4B |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 10,293 | 41 | 141 | $369.9M |
| Drought | 7,032 | 0 | 0 | $86.0K |
| Flash Flood | 4,728 | 338 | 24 | $47.6B |
| Heat | 4,079 | 119 | 405 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
26
Total Paid
$451.9K
Avg Per Claim
$17.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 34.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$9.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Hail Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Winter Weather 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: 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 Madison County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. 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
Madison County's closest FEMA peer: Hughes County, OK
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Madison County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Madison County shows 27 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Madison County: 19 of 27 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Madison County: NRI composite 34.9 (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 Madison County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Madison 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: 34.9 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 27. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 27 FEMA declarations, Madison 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 Madison County?
The most common disaster type in Madison County is Hurricane, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (6), Severe Storm (4), Fire (3).
How does Madison County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
FEMA lists 27 declaration records for Madison County. That is 29% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. Its count is also 30% 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 Madison County received?
Madison County has received 19 major disaster declarations, representing 70% of all 27 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Madison County filed?
Madison County has 26 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $451.9K in payments, with an average of $17.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Madison County?
No. In Madison County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Cold Wave leads Expected Annual Loss at about $2.6M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Madison County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Madison County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1988 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Madison County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Madison County, Texas has an overall risk score of 34.9 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $9.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Madison County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Madison County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively Low) and Cold Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 29 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 805 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Madison County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events