FEMA Records
21
Above median
Maryland · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Montgomery County, MD
21 FEMA disaster declarations (1971-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Snowstorm.
- 21
- FEMA declarations
- 14
- Major disasters
- 92
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Snowstorm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Montgomery County. Its 21 FEMA declarations are 7% above the Maryland county mean and exceed the count for 52% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 8%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 8%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 21
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 775
- 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 24031 · Montgomery County 21 declarations · rank 1414/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 21
- MAJOR-MID 67%
- RANK-LOWER #1,414
- PHOTO-FINISH Montgomery
- NRI-MID 92
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Snowstorm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +7%
Nearest declaration peer: Montgomery, IN (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Maryland state profile
Montgomery County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Montgomery County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Atascosa · near 21
Atascosa · near
21 declarations
- Mason · near 21
Mason · near
21 declarations
- Montgomery · near 21
Montgomery · near
21 declarations
- Montgomery · this county 21
Montgomery · this county
21 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Montgomery County carries 21 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1414 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Montgomery County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Montgomery County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Montgomery County
21 Top 48% higher than 52% 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
Montgomery County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Montgomery County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $71.0M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Winter Weather 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 Montgomery County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 775 claims and $4.8M 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 $6.1K. 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. Montgomery County's 21 federal records stand 7% above the Maryland county mean of 19.6. 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 91.7/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $126.4M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very Low and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Winter Weather stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 12 times per year here, based on 229 historical events on record.
60 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Montgomery County, MD · 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
15/30
21 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
21 declarations (1.1x state county average of 20)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
14 of 21 declarations are major disasters (67%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Montgomery County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Montgomery 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
67%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
92
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Montgomery 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 | Very High | an average of 12 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively High | 5.3 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 8.2 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively High | an average of 4 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 5.5 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 10 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 916 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 39 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.6 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 4 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 38,896 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Snowstorm 5
Hurricane 5
Severe Storm 5
Flood 3
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
What Snowstorm declarations mean here
Snowstorm is the most frequent declaration type on Montgomery County's record, 24% of its declarations. Snow-related declarations work on a narrower basis than most other hazards: they are generally issued to reimburse the cost of snow removal and emergency protective measures, rather than to repair destroyed property.
The qualifying test is unusual too. FEMA assesses snowfall against record levels for the affected area, so the same storm total can qualify in a county where it is historically extreme and not qualify a few hundred miles north where it is an ordinary winter. A low snowstorm declaration count is therefore not evidence of mild winters.
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 66.7%
of all 21 declarations
Emergency - 7 33.3%
of all 21 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 2 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 21 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 21 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3634 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 4491 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-26 |
| 3430 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4261 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2016-03-04 |
| 4091 | HURRICANE SANDY | DR | Hurricane | 2012-11-20 |
| 3349 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 4075 | SEVERE STORMS AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-08-02 |
| 3335 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-27 |
| 1910 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-05-06 |
| 1875 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2010-02-19 |
| 1652 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-07-02 |
| 3251 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1492 | HURRICANE ISABEL | DR | Hurricane | 2003-09-19 |
| 3179 | SNOW | EM | Severe Storm | 2003-03-14 |
| 1324 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-04-10 |
| 1081 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-11 |
| 3100 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-16 |
| 839 | SEVERE STORMS & HIGH WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 1989-08-28 |
| 489 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-10-04 |
| 341 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
Show 1 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 309 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1971-08-17 |
Storm Events in Maryland
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Montgomery County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 3,959 | 6 | 43 | $102.0M |
| Winter Weather | 1,341 | 4 | 26 | $95.0K |
| Flood | 1,089 | 1 | 0 | $1.4M |
| Flash Flood | 790 | 9 | 4 | $96.3M |
| Dense Fog | 513 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
775
Total Paid
$4.8M
Avg Per Claim
$6.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 91.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$126.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Winter Weather Very High
Heat Wave Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Hail Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Very Low
Coastal Flooding 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.
For Montgomery County the two measures on this page point the same way: Winter Weather is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Very High), and Snowstorm declarations also lead its federal record. Where the model and the declaration history agree, the reading is comparatively straightforward, the hazard is both expected and repeatedly realised.
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
Montgomery County's closest FEMA peer: Arlington County, VA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Montgomery County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Montgomery County shows 21 FEMA declarations, led by Snowstorm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Montgomery County: 14 of 21 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Montgomery County: NRI composite 91.7 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Montgomery County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Montgomery 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: 91.7 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 21. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Montgomery County's NFIP claims file (775 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).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Montgomery County?
The most common disaster type in Montgomery County is Snowstorm, with 5 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (5), Severe Storm (5), Flood (3).
How does Montgomery County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Maryland average?
FEMA lists 21 declaration records for Montgomery County. That is 7% above the Maryland county mean of 19.6. Its count is also 1% 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 Montgomery County received?
Montgomery County has received 14 major disaster declarations, representing 67% of all 21 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Montgomery County filed?
Montgomery County has 775 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $4.8M in payments, with an average of $6.1K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Montgomery County?
No. In Montgomery County, Winter Weather has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $71.0M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Montgomery County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Montgomery County was 2003, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1971 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Montgomery County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Montgomery County, Maryland has an overall risk score of 91.7 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Very Low, while community resilience comes in at Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $126.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Montgomery County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Montgomery County as of the latest release is Winter Weather (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Heat Wave (Relatively High) and Strong Wind (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts winter weather here at an average of 12 times per year, drawn from 229 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 Montgomery County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Maryland profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events