FEMA Records
17
Below median
South Dakota · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
McPherson County, SD
17 FEMA disaster declarations (1969-2022), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 17
- FEMA declarations
- 14
- Major disasters
- 11
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
McPherson 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 11% below the South Dakota county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 11%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 11%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 17
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 3
- 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 46089 · McPherson County 17 declarations · rank 2213/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 17
- MAJOR-HEAVY 82%
- RANK-LOWER #2,213
- PHOTO-FINISH Curry
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-BELOW -11%
Nearest declaration peer: Curry, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · South Dakota state profile
McPherson County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among McPherson County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Curry · near 17
Curry · near
17 declarations
- McPherson · this county 17
McPherson · 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 McPherson County carries 17 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2213 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
McPherson County versus quieter counties in this dataset
McPherson County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · McPherson 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
McPherson County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for McPherson County is led by Cold Wave (about $1.6M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), while Winter Weather 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 McPherson County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's National Risk Index places this county in the low end of the national distribution, composite score 11.1/100 (Very Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $3.7M in annualized losses). Two modifiers shape how that exposure becomes real-world harm here: social vulnerability (Very High) and community resilience (Relatively Moderate). Among the 18 modeled hazards, Winter Weather carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 19 times per year here, based on 354 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 3 claims and $14.9K 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.
Start with the state benchmark: a South Dakota county averages 19.0 federal declaration records, while McPherson County has 17. The gap is 11% 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.
59 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
McPherson County, SD · 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
11/25
17 declarations (0.9x state county average of 19)
Major Disaster Share Very High
21/25
14 of 17 declarations are major disasters (82%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in McPherson County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - McPherson 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
82%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
11
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike McPherson 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 19 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 12 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 3.4 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 873 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 12 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 2.3 times per year |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 2.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 4,831 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 31 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 7
Flood 5
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 1
Snowstorm 1
Drought 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on McPherson County's record, 41% 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 - 14 82.4%
of all 17 declarations
Emergency - 3 17.6%
of all 17 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 2 | |
| 1995 | 2 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4664 | SEVERE STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2022-08-02 |
| 4527 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3475 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4440 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-06-07 |
| 4298 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2017-02-01 |
| 1915 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2010-05-13 |
| 1887 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-03-10 |
| 1844 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-06-16 |
| 3234 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-10 |
| 1173 | SEVERE FLOODING, SEVER WINTER STORMS,HEAVY RAINS HIGH WINDS | DR | Flood | 1997-04-07 |
| 1156 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-10 |
| 1052 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1995-05-26 |
| 1045 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 1995-03-14 |
| 1031 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-06-21 |
| 999 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1993-07-19 |
| 3015 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-06-17 |
| 257 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-04-18 |
Storm Events in South Dakota
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to McPherson County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,388 | 7 | 21 | $10.7M |
| Hail | 4,801 | 0 | 3 | $4.5M |
| High Wind | 2,277 | 0 | 1 | $35.0K |
| Winter Weather | 2,125 | 20 | 50 | $133.0K |
| Flood | 1,523 | 5 | 0 | $196.2M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
3
Total Paid
$14.9K
Avg Per Claim
$5.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 11.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$3.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Wildfire Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Tornado Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Lightning 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: Winter Weather
Winter Weather in the model means the accumulation of snow and cold that disrupts rather than destroys: road closures, roof loads, burst pipes and lost heating. Its costs land heavily on transport and on households least able to absorb an interruption.
Worth noting for McPherson County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Winter Weather carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), 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
McPherson County's closest FEMA peer: Steele County, MN
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for McPherson County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
McPherson County shows 17 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
McPherson County: 14 of 17 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
McPherson County: NRI composite 11.1 (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 McPherson County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for McPherson 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: 11.1 (Very 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, McPherson 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 McPherson County?
The most common disaster type in McPherson County is Severe Storm, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (5), Biological (2), Coastal Storm (1).
How does McPherson County's FEMA declaration record compare with the South Dakota average?
The typical South Dakota county has 19.0 FEMA declaration records; McPherson County has 17, or 11% 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 McPherson County received?
McPherson County has received 14 major disaster declarations, representing 82% of all 17 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has McPherson County filed?
McPherson County has 3 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $14.9K in payments, with an average of $5.0K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in McPherson County?
No. In McPherson County, Winter Weather has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Cold Wave leads Expected Annual Loss at about $1.6M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in McPherson County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in McPherson County was 1995, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1969 to 2022.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for McPherson County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, McPherson County, South Dakota has an overall risk score of 11.1 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $3.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to McPherson County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for McPherson County is Winter Weather (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively Moderate) and Hail (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts winter weather here at an average of 19 times per year, drawn from 354 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 McPherson County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · South Dakota profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events