FEMA Records
40
Very high volume
Florida · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Nassau County, FL
40 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 40
- FEMA declarations
- 23
- Major disasters
- 59
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Nassau County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 40 declarations, more than 97% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 1% below the Florida county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 41%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 41%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 40
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 845
- 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 Nassau County compare?
Nassau County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
40 Top 3% higher than 97% 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
Nassau County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Florida county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Nassau County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $10.2M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very Low), while Hurricane 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 Nassau County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 845 claims and $12.7M 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 $15.1K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
Start with the state benchmark: a Florida county averages 40.4 federal declaration records, while Nassau County has 40. The gap is 1% 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, 59.3/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $24.5M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Hurricane carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 3 years here, based on 107 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
Nationally, Nassau County's 40 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within Florida, however, the count is 1% below the county mean. 23 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Hurricane, appearing 20 times. The full 52-year record averages 0.8 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
75 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Nassau County, FL · 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
29/30
40 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
40 declarations (1.0x state county average of 40)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
23 of 40 declarations are major disasters (57%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Nassau County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Florida Avg
-1%
State avg: 40.4
vs. National Avg
+93%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.8
Over 52 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Nassau 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
57%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
59
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Nassau 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 375 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.5 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 4.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 73 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 849 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 12 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 19 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | an average of 2.7 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 10 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 20
Severe Storm 7
Tropical Storm 4
Fire 4
Biological 2
Freezing 1
Tornado 1
Flood 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Nassau County's federal record, 50% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
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 57.5%
of all 40 declarations
Emergency - 15 37.5%
of all 40 declarations
Fire Management - 2 5.0%
of all 40 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 3 | |
| 2023 | 4 | |
| 2022 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 4 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 3 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 4 | |
Show 4 earlier declaration years
| 1998 | 2 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 2 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 40 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 40 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4834 | HURRICANE MILTON | DR | Hurricane | 2024-10-11 |
| 3622 | HURRICANE MILTON | EM | Hurricane | 2024-10-07 |
| 4828 | HURRICANE HELENE | DR | Hurricane | 2024-09-28 |
| 4806 | HURRICANE DEBBY | DR | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-10 |
| 3605 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-03 |
| 4734 | HURRICANE IDALIA | DR | Hurricane | 2023-08-31 |
| 3596 | TROPICAL STORM IDALIA | EM | Tropical Storm | 2023-08-28 |
| 4680 | HURRICANE NICOLE | DR | Hurricane | 2022-12-13 |
| 3587 | TROPICAL STORM NICOLE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2022-11-08 |
| 4673 | HURRICANE IAN | DR | Hurricane | 2022-09-29 |
| 3584 | TROPICAL STORM IAN | EM | Hurricane | 2022-09-24 |
| 3561 | TROPICAL STORM ELSA | EM | Severe Storm | 2021-07-04 |
| 3533 | HURRICANE ISAIAS | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-01 |
| 4486 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3432 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4468 | HURRICANE DORIAN | DR | Hurricane | 2019-10-21 |
| 3419 | HURRICANE DORIAN | EM | Hurricane | 2019-08-30 |
| 4337 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-10 |
| 3385 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-05 |
| 4283 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | DR | Hurricane | 2016-10-08 |
Show 20 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3377 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | EM | Hurricane | 2016-10-06 |
| 4068 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-07-03 |
| 1785 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-08-24 |
| 3288 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | EM | Severe Storm | 2008-08-21 |
| 3220 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1561 | HURRICANE JEANNE | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-26 |
| 1545 | HURRICANE FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-04 |
| 1539 | TROPICAL STORM BONNIE AND HURRICANE CHARLEY | DR | Hurricane | 2004-08-13 |
| 1359 | SEVERE FREEZE | DR | Freezing | 2001-02-05 |
| 2305 | FL, JACKSONVILLE FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2000-06-02 |
| 1300 | HURRICANE FLOYD MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS | DR | Hurricane | 1999-09-22 |
| 3143 | HURRICANE FLOYD EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS | EM | Hurricane | 1999-09-14 |
| 2262 | JACKSONVILLE DISTRICT FIRE | FM | Fire | 1999-05-14 |
| 3139 | FL-FIRES 04/15/99 | EM | Fire | 1999-04-27 |
| 1223 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | DR | Fire | 1998-06-18 |
| 1195 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-01-06 |
| 1141 | TROPICAL STORM JOSEPHINE | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-10-15 |
| 982 | TORNADOES, FLOODING, HIGH WINDS & TIDES, FREEZING | DR | Tornado | 1993-03-13 |
| 966 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1992-10-08 |
| 387 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-05-26 |
Storm Events in Florida
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Nassau County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,243 | 17 | 45 | $24.8M |
| Hail | 1,012 | 0 | 0 | $564.6K |
| Heavy Rain | 865 | 2 | 3 | $200.0K |
| Flood | 826 | 9 | 0 | $2.0B |
| Tropical Storm | 767 | 92 | 6 | $4.9B |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
845
Total Paid
$12.7M
Avg Per Claim
$15.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 59.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$24.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Hail Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Drought Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Winter Weather 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: Hurricane
Hurricane exposure in the model bundles the three ways a tropical system does harm, which arrive on different timescales and are insured differently: wind, storm surge on the coast, and rainfall flooding that can reach far inland well after landfall.
For Nassau County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), and Hurricane 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
Nassau County's closest FEMA peer: Essex County, MA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Nassau County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Nassau County shows 40 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Nassau County: 23 of 40 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Nassau County: NRI composite 59.3 (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 Nassau County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Nassau County's NFIP claims file (845 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 Nassau County?
The most common disaster type in Nassau County is Hurricane, with 20 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (7), Tropical Storm (4), Fire (4).
How does Nassau County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Florida average?
The typical Florida county has 40.4 FEMA declaration records; Nassau County has 40, or 1% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 93% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Nassau County received?
Nassau County has received 23 major disaster declarations, representing 57% of all 40 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Nassau County filed?
Nassau County has 845 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $12.7M in payments, with an average of $15.1K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Nassau County?
No. In Nassau County, Hurricane has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $10.2M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Nassau County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Nassau County was 1999, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Nassau County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Nassau County, Florida has an overall risk score of 59.3 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Low, while community resilience comes in at Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $24.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Nassau County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Nassau County is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Low) and Coastal Flooding (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 3 years, drawn from 107 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.
What this means for Nassau County
Against a Florida county mean of 40 declarations, Nassau County, FL records 40, or 1% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (23 of 40) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Florida overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 97% of recorded county totals, but its own Florida benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. 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
A below-average federal record is not a safety guarantee. Use National Weather Service alerts and local emergency-management notices for present conditions, not this historical comparison.
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.