FEMA Records
18
Below median
Minnesota · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
McLeod County, MN
18 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 18
- FEMA declarations
- 15
- Major disasters
- 47
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for McLeod County. Its 18 FEMA declarations are 2% above the Minnesota county mean and exceed the count for 37% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 47%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 47%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 18
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 19
- 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 27085 · McLeod County 18 declarations · rank 2041/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-MID 18
- MAJOR-HEAVY 83%
- RANK-LOWER #2,041
- PHOTO-FINISH Monroe
- NRI-LOW 47
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-ABOVE +2%
Nearest declaration peer: Monroe, TN (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Minnesota state profile
McLeod County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among McLeod County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Brooke · near 18
Brooke · near
18 declarations
- McLeod · this county 18
McLeod · this county
18 declarations
- Mecklenburg · near 18
Mecklenburg · near
18 declarations
- Monroe · near 18
Monroe · near
18 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows McLeod County carries 18 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2041 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How McLeod County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
McLeod County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · McLeod County
18 37th percentile higher than 37% 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
McLeod County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for McLeod County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $7.1M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Strong Wind 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 McLeod County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 46.6/100 for this county (Relatively Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Relatively Low (roughly $17.4M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively Low) and community resilience (Very High) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Strong Wind carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 4.3 times per year here, based on 164 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 19 claims and $102.5K 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. McLeod County's 18 federal records stand 2% above the Minnesota county mean of 17.7. 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.
60 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
McLeod County, MN · 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
13/30
18 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
18 declarations (1.0x state county average of 18)
Major Disaster Share Very High
21/25
15 of 18 declarations are major disasters (83%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in McLeod County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - McLeod 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
83%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
47
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike McLeod 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.3 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 11 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 6.2 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 18 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 4.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 5.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 20 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 36 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 6,331 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 3,356 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 9
Severe Storm 5
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on McLeod County's record, 50% of its declarations. Federal flood declarations cover two mechanisms that behave very differently: riverine flooding, which builds over days as a watershed drains and is usually forecast well in advance, and flash flooding, which can arrive in under an hour from rainfall that fell somewhere upstream.
Flood is also the one hazard class where a second federal dataset exists for the same events. The National Flood Insurance Program records what was actually paid on insured losses, so it measures a narrower thing than the declaration count: uninsured damage, and flooding outside mapped special flood hazard areas, never enters it. Reading the two together is more informative than either alone.
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 - 15 83.3%
of all 18 declarations
Emergency - 3 16.7%
of all 18 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 18 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 18 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4797 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2024-06-28 |
| 4531 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-07 |
| 3453 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4442 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-06-12 |
| 4182 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2014-07-21 |
| 4131 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-07-25 |
| 4009 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-07-28 |
| 1982 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-05-10 |
| 1900 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2010-04-19 |
| 3242 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1419 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-06-14 |
| 1370 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Flood | 2001-05-16 |
| 1175 | SEVERE FLOODING, HIGH WINDS,SEVERE STORMS | DR | Flood | 1997-04-08 |
| 1158 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-16 |
| 993 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1993-06-11 |
| 3013 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-06-17 |
| 255 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-04-18 |
| 188 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1965-04-11 |
Storm Events in Minnesota
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to McLeod County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 4,420 | 13 | 25 | $68.2M |
| Hail | 4,203 | 0 | 0 | $34.5M |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 1,789 | 7 | 4 | $55.0K |
| Winter Storm | 1,695 | 2 | 17 | $10.0M |
| Heavy Snow | 1,190 | 9 | 14 | $1.0M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
19
Total Paid
$102.5K
Avg Per Claim
$5.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 46.6/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$17.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Lightning Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Earthquake 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: Strong Wind
Strong Wind covers damaging non-thunderstorm, non-tornadic wind, the kind produced by steep pressure gradients and downslope events. It is a broad, frequent, low-drama hazard: roofs, signage, power lines and high-profile vehicles, spread across a wide area rather than concentrated on a path.
Worth noting for McLeod County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Strong Wind carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Flood. 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
McLeod County's closest FEMA peer: Osborne County, KS
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for McLeod County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
McLeod County shows 18 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
McLeod County: 15 of 18 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
McLeod County: NRI composite 46.6 (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 McLeod County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for McLeod 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: 46.6 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 18. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 18 FEMA declarations, McLeod 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 McLeod County?
The most common disaster type in McLeod County is Flood, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (5), Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does McLeod County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Minnesota average?
FEMA lists 18 declaration records for McLeod County. That is 2% above the Minnesota county mean of 17.7. Its count is also 13% below 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 McLeod County received?
McLeod County has received 15 major disaster declarations, representing 83% of all 18 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has McLeod County filed?
McLeod County has 19 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $102.5K in payments, with an average of $5.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in McLeod County?
No. In McLeod County, Strong Wind has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $7.1M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in McLeod County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in McLeod County was 1997, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for McLeod County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, McLeod County, Minnesota has an overall risk score of 46.6 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Low and community resilience is Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $17.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to McLeod County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for McLeod County as of the latest release is Strong Wind (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively Moderate) and Hail (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts strong wind here at an average of 4.3 times per year, drawn from 164 historical events on record. 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 McLeod County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Minnesota profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events