FEMA Records
14
Low volume
Minnesota · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Morrison County, MN
14 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 14
- FEMA declarations
- 10
- Major disasters
- 67
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Morrison County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 14 declarations, more than 20% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 21% below the Minnesota county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 33%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 33%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 14
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 50
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 27097 · Morrison County 14 declarations · rank 2604/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 14
- MAJOR-MID 71%
- RANK-LOWER #2,604
- PHOTO-FINISH Pulaski
- NRI-LOW 67
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-BELOW -21%
Nearest declaration peer: Pulaski, IL (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Minnesota state profile
Morrison County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Morrison County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Franklin (city) · near 14
Franklin (city) · near
14 declarations
- Harris · near 14
Harris · near
14 declarations
- Morrison · this county 14
Morrison · this county
14 declarations
- Pulaski · near 14
Pulaski · near
14 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Morrison County carries 14 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2604 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Morrison County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Morrison County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Morrison County
14 20th percentile higher than 20% 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
Morrison County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Morrison County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $22.6M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), while Lightning carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively 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 Morrison County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 50 paid claims, totaling $613.4K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $12.3K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Minnesota county averages 17.7 federal declaration records, while Morrison County has 14. The gap is 21% 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 66.9/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $29.6M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Very High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Lightning stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 32 times per year here, based on 88,404 historical events on record.
53 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Morrison 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
10/30
14 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
10/25
14 declarations (0.8x state county average of 18)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
10 of 14 declarations are major disasters (71%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Morrison County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Morrison 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
71%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
67
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Morrison 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 32 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 790 years |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.5 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 13 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 9.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 1.8 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 16 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 9,091 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 7
Severe Storm 2
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Fire 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Morrison 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 - 10 71.4%
of all 14 declarations
Emergency - 3 21.4%
of all 14 declarations
Fire Management - 1 7.1%
of all 14 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
| 1966 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 14 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 14 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4722 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2023-07-19 |
| 4658 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2022-07-08 |
| 4531 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-07 |
| 3453 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4131 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-07-25 |
| 3242 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1370 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Flood | 2001-05-16 |
| 2345 | MN - CARLOS EDGE FIRE COMPLEX - 10/19/2000 | FM | Fire | 2000-10-20 |
| 1175 | SEVERE FLOODING, HIGH WINDS,SEVERE STORMS | DR | Flood | 1997-04-08 |
| 3013 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-06-17 |
| 347 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-08-01 |
| 255 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-04-18 |
| 215 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1966-03-22 |
| 188 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1965-04-11 |
Storm Events in Minnesota
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Morrison 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
50
Total Paid
$613.4K
Avg Per Claim
$12.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 66.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$29.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Lightning Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively 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: Lightning
Lightning is modeled as a high-frequency, low-per-event hazard: strike counts are large, but each strike affects a very small area. Its aggregate cost accumulates through structure fires, electrical and electronic damage, and it is one of the few hazards whose risk is essentially continuous through the season rather than episodic.
Worth noting for Morrison County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Lightning carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), 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
Morrison County's closest FEMA peer: Bannock County, ID
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Morrison County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Morrison County: NRI composite 66.9 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Morrison County: 10 of 14 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Morrison County shows 14 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
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 Morrison County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Morrison 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: 66.9 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 14. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Morrison County's NFIP claims file (50 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 Morrison County?
The most common disaster type in Morrison County is Flood, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (2), Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does Morrison County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Minnesota average?
The typical Minnesota county has 17.7 FEMA declaration records; Morrison County has 14, or 21% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 32% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Morrison County received?
Morrison County has received 10 major disaster declarations, representing 71% of all 14 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Morrison County filed?
Morrison County has 50 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $613.4K in payments, with an average of $12.3K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Morrison County?
No. In Morrison County, Lightning has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $22.6M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Morrison County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Morrison County was 2001, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Morrison County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Morrison County, Minnesota has an overall risk score of 66.9 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 $29.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Morrison County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Morrison County is Lightning (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Riverine Flooding (Relatively Moderate) and Wildfire (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts lightning here at an average of 32 times per year, drawn from 88,404 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 Morrison County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Minnesota profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events