FEMA Records
33
Very high volume
California · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Monterey County, CA
33 FEMA disaster declarations (1967-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 33
- FEMA declarations
- 23
- Major disasters
- 99
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Monterey County. Its 33 FEMA declarations are 16% above the California county mean and exceed the count for 91% 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
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 33
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,492
- 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.
How does Monterey County compare?
Monterey County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
33 Top 9% higher than 91% 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 · 2026-08-03
Monterey County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the California county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Monterey County is led by Earthquake (about $181.9M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), while Drought carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Very 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 Monterey County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,492 claims and $42.2M 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 $28.3K. 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. Monterey County's 33 federal records stand 16% above 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 98.7/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $402.4M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Relatively Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Drought stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 94 modeled event-days per year here, based on 3,276 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 33 entries for Monterey County, including 23 Major Disaster records, 16% above the California county mean. Across the 57-year span, that works out to 0.6 declarations a year. Severe Storm leads the file with 8 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
75 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Monterey 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
24/30
33 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.6x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
33 declarations (1.2x state county average of 29)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
23 of 33 declarations are major disasters (70%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
10 different disaster types declared in Monterey County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. California Avg
+16%
State avg: 28.5
vs. National Avg
+59%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.6
Over 57 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Monterey 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
99
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Monterey 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 | Very High | 94 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Relatively High | an average of 130 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively High | roughly once every 6 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 114 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 7.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.7 times per year |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 3.1 times per year |
| Tsunami | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 21 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 59 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 1.5 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 8
Flood 8
Fire 7
Freezing 3
Biological 2
Tsunami 1
Hurricane 1
Earthquake 1
Coastal Storm 1
Drought 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Monterey County's record, 24% 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 - 23 69.7%
of all 33 declarations
Emergency - 6 18.2%
of all 33 declarations
Fire Management - 4 12.1%
of all 33 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 4 | |
| 2020 | 5 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 8 earlier declaration years
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1985 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 33 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 33 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 4558 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2020-08-22 |
| 5333 | CARMEL FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-08-19 |
| 5329 | RIVER FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-08-17 |
| 4482 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-22 |
| 3428 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4434 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-05-17 |
| 4308 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2017-04-01 |
| 4301 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2017-02-14 |
| 5137 | SOBERANES FIRE | FM | Fire | 2016-07-28 |
| 1968 | TSUNAMI WAVES | DR | Tsunami | 2011-04-18 |
| 2781 | BASIN FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2008-07-04 |
| 3287 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-06-28 |
| 1689 | SEVERE FREEZE | DR | Freezing | 2007-03-13 |
| 3248 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1267 | CA-CITRUS CROP DAMAGE 2/2/99 | DR | Freezing | 1999-02-09 |
Show 13 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1203 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-02-09 |
| 1155 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUD AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-04 |
| 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 |
| 979 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, MUD & LAND SLIDES, & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-02-03 |
| 894 | SEVERE FREEZE | DR | Freezing | 1991-02-11 |
| 845 | LOMA PRIETA EARTHQUAKE | DR | Earthquake | 1989-10-18 |
| 739 | GRASS, WILDLANDS, & FOREST FIRES | DR | Fire | 1985-07-18 |
| 677 | COASTAL STORMS, FLOODS, SLIDES & TORNADOES | DR | Coastal Storm | 1983-02-09 |
| 547 | COASTAL STORMS, MUDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1978-02-15 |
| 3023 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-20 |
| 253 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-01-26 |
| 223 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1967-01-02 |
Storm Events in California
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Monterey 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 NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1,492
Total Paid
$42.2M
Avg Per Claim
$28.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 98.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$402.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Very High
Landslide Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Coastal Flooding Relatively Low
Tsunami Very Low
Hail Very Low
Avalanche Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Cold Wave No Rating
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) 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 Monterey County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought carries the highest modeled rating (Very 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
Monterey County's closest FEMA peer: Morris County, NJ
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Monterey County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Monterey County shows 33 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Monterey County: 23 of 33 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Monterey County: NRI composite 98.7 (Relatively High).
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 Monterey County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Monterey County's NFIP claims file (1,492 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Monterey County?
The most common disaster type in Monterey County is Severe Storm, with 8 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (8), Fire (7), Freezing (3).
How does Monterey County's FEMA declaration record compare with the California average?
FEMA lists 33 declaration records for Monterey County. That is 16% above the California county mean of 28.5. Its count is also 59% 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 Monterey County received?
Monterey County has received 23 major disaster declarations, representing 70% of all 33 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Monterey County filed?
Monterey County has 1,492 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $42.2M in payments, with an average of $28.3K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Monterey County?
No. In Monterey County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Earthquake leads Expected Annual Loss at about $181.9M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Monterey County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Monterey County was 2020, with 5 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1967 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Monterey County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Monterey County, California has an overall risk score of 98.7 out of 100 (Relatively High). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $402.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Monterey County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Monterey County as of the latest release is Drought (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Landslide (Relatively High) and Earthquake (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 94 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 3,276 historical events on record. FEMA derives these ratings from historical event frequency, the assets exposed, and the community's vulnerability profile.
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 Monterey County
Monterey County, CA has 33 federal declaration records, 16% more than the California county mean of 29; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 23 of 33 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. California overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the California mean and the totals for 91% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- The large NFIP claims file and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records; the guide explains where they overlap and where they do not. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
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
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
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.