FEMA Records
23
Above median
New York · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
New York County, NY
23 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 23
- FEMA declarations
- 13
- Major disasters
- 99
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
New York County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 23 declarations, more than 62% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 6% below the New York county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 1%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 1%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 23
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,493
- 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 36061 · New York County 23 declarations · rank 1132/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 23
- MAJOR-MID 57%
- RANK-LOWER #1,132
- PHOTO-FINISH Roanoke
- NRI-HIGH 99
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -6%
Nearest declaration peer: Roanoke, VA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · New York state profile
New York County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among New York County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Amherst · near 23
Amherst · near
23 declarations
- New York · this county 23
New York · this county
23 declarations
- Roanoke · near 23
Roanoke · near
23 declarations
- Vance · near 23
Vance · near
23 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows New York County carries 23 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1132 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How New York County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
New York County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · New York County
23 Top 38% higher than 62% 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
New York County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for New York County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $187.0M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Heat Wave 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 New York County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,493 claims and $120.7M 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 $80.8K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
Start with the state benchmark: a New York county averages 24.5 federal declaration records, while New York County has 23. The gap is 6% 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 sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 98.8/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $306.7M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Heat Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 10 modeled event-days per year here, based on 146 historical events on record.
63 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
New York County, NY · 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
17/30
23 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
23 declarations (0.9x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
13 of 23 declarations are major disasters (57%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
9 different disaster types declared in New York County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - New York 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
99
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike New York 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heat Wave | Relatively High | 10 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Very High | an average of 5.4 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very High | an average of 2 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very High | an average of 9.3 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 516 years |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 6 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 32 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 94 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.8 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 147 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 14,921 years |
| Drought | No Rating | 1.5 modeled event-days per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 8
Snowstorm 3
Flood 3
Biological 2
Severe Storm 2
Other 2
Fire 1
Human Cause 1
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on New York County's federal record, 35% 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 - 13 56.5%
of all 23 declarations
Emergency - 10 43.5%
of all 23 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2013 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 3 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 23 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 23 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4615 | REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IDA | DR | Hurricane | 2021-09-05 |
| 3572 | REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IDA | EM | Hurricane | 2021-09-02 |
| 3565 | HURRICANE HENRI | EM | Hurricane | 2021-08-22 |
| 4480 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-20 |
| 3434 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4085 | HURRICANE SANDY | DR | Hurricane | 2012-10-30 |
| 3351 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 4020 | HURRICANE IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-08-31 |
| 3328 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-26 |
| 3262 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-30 |
| 1534 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-08-03 |
| 3186 | POWER OUTAGE | EM | Other | 2003-08-23 |
| 3184 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2003-03-27 |
| 1391 | FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS | DR | Fire | 2001-09-11 |
| 3155 | WEST NILE VIRUS | EM | Other | 2000-10-11 |
| 1146 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, HEAVY RAINS, HIGH WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-11-19 |
| 1083 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-12 |
| 984 | EXPLOSION AT WORLD TRADE CENTER | DR | Human Cause | 1993-04-02 |
| 3107 | SEVERE BLIZZARD | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 974 | COASTAL STORM, HIGH TIDES, HEAVY RAIN, & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1992-12-21 |
Show 3 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 702 | COASTAL STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-04-17 |
| 311 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1971-09-13 |
| 204 | WATER SHORTAGE | DR | Drought | 1965-08-18 |
Storm Events in New York
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to New York County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 8,295 | 6 | 45 | $45.0M |
| Winter Weather | 2,261 | 7 | 17 | $705.5K |
| Flash Flood | 1,775 | 23 | 3 | $674.3M |
| Strong Wind | 1,399 | 2 | 12 | $9.2M |
| Winter Storm | 1,228 | 13 | 2 | $4.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1,493
Total Paid
$120.7M
Avg Per Claim
$80.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 98.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$306.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Heat Wave Relatively High
Strong Wind Very High
Riverine Flooding Very High
Winter Weather Very High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively High
Coastal Flooding Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Drought No Rating
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: Heat Wave
Heat Wave is measured in event-days per year rather than discrete events, and it is the hazard whose harm is most consistently undercounted: its toll is health and mortality, concentrated among people without cooling, rather than visible damage to property.
Worth noting for New York County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Heat Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. 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
New York County's closest FEMA peer: Gila County, AZ
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for New York County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
New York County shows 23 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
New York County: 13 of 23 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
New York County: NRI composite 98.8 (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 New York County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for New York 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: 98.8 (Relatively High).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 23. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
New York County's NFIP claims file (1,493 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 New York County?
The most common disaster type in New York County is Hurricane, with 8 declarations. Other disaster types include Snowstorm (3), Flood (3), Biological (2).
How does New York County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New York average?
The typical New York county has 24.5 FEMA declaration records; New York County has 23, or 6% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 11% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has New York County received?
New York County has received 13 major disaster declarations, representing 57% of all 23 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has New York County filed?
New York County has 1,493 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $120.7M in payments, with an average of $80.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in New York County?
No. In New York County, Heat Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $187.0M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in New York County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in New York County was 1993, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for New York County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, New York County, New York has an overall risk score of 98.8 out of 100 (Relatively High). On social vulnerability the county rates Very High; on community resilience, Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $306.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to New York County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for New York County is Heat Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Strong Wind (Very High) and Riverine Flooding (Very High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts heat wave here at 10 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 146 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for New York County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · New York profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events