FEMA Records
22
Above median
Rhode Island · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Newport County, RI
22 FEMA disaster declarations (1978-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 22
- FEMA declarations
- 13
- Major disasters
- 36
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Newport County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 22 declarations, more than 57% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 4% below the Rhode Island county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 36%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 36%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 22
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 805
- 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.
How does Newport County compare?
Newport County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
22 Top 43% higher than 57% 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
Newport County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Rhode Island county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Newport County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $8.7M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very Low), while Hurricane carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low). 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 Newport County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 805 claims and $11.8M 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 $14.7K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
Start with the state benchmark: a Rhode Island county averages 23.0 federal declaration records, while Newport County has 22. The gap is 4% 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
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 36.4/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $13.9M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Very Low) and community resilience (Very High) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Hurricane, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 5 years here, based on 50 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
Nationally, Newport County's 22 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within Rhode Island, however, the count is 4% below the county mean. 13 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Hurricane, appearing 8 times. The full 46-year record averages 0.5 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
53 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Newport County, RI · 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
16/30
22 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
22 declarations (1.0x state county average of 23)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
13 of 22 declarations are major disasters (59%)
Hazard Diversity High
10/20
4 different disaster types declared in Newport County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Rhode Island Avg
-4%
State avg: 23.0
vs. National Avg
+6%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.5
Over 46 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Newport 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
59%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
36
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Newport 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 Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 883 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 20 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 3.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 2.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 9.7 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 22 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 73,912 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 60 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.1 times 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
Severe Storm 6
Snowstorm 6
Biological 2
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Newport County's federal record, 36% 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 59.1%
of all 22 declarations
Emergency - 9 40.9%
of all 22 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 3 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 2 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 22 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 22 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4766 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-03-20 |
| 4653 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Snowstorm | 2022-05-12 |
| 3563 | HURRICANE HENRI | EM | Hurricane | 2021-08-21 |
| 4505 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-30 |
| 3440 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4212 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-04-03 |
| 4107 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-03-22 |
| 4089 | HURRICANE SANDY | DR | Hurricane | 2012-11-03 |
| 3355 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-29 |
| 4027 | TROPICAL STORM IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-09-03 |
| 3334 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-27 |
| 3311 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Storm | 2010-03-30 |
| 1894 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-03-29 |
| 1704 | SEVERE STORMS AND INLAND AND COASTAL FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-05-25 |
| 3255 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-19 |
| 3203 | RECORD SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2005-02-17 |
| 1091 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-24 |
| 3102 | BLIZZARDS, HIGH WINDS & RECORD SNOWFALL | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-16 |
| 913 | HURRICANE BOB | DR | Hurricane | 1991-08-26 |
| 748 | HURRICANE GLORIA | DR | Hurricane | 1985-10-15 |
Show 2 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 548 | SNOW & ICE | DR | Snowstorm | 1978-02-16 |
| 3058 | BLIZZARD & SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1978-02-07 |
Storm Events in Rhode Island
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Newport County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 175 | 0 | 2 | $987.6K |
| Strong Wind | 144 | 1 | 2 | $489.8K |
| High Wind | 124 | 1 | 1 | $427.6K |
| Heavy Snow | 99 | 0 | 1 | $105.0K |
| Flood | 72 | 0 | 0 | $74.3K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
805
Total Paid
$11.8M
Avg Per Claim
$14.7K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 36.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$13.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Very Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Hail 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 Newport County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Low), 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
Newport County's closest FEMA peer: St. Francis County, AR
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Newport County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Newport County shows 22 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Newport County: 13 of 22 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Newport County: NRI composite 36.4 (Very 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 Newport County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Newport County's NFIP claims file (805 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 Newport County?
The most common disaster type in Newport County is Hurricane, with 8 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (6), Snowstorm (6), Biological (2).
How does Newport County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Rhode Island average?
The typical Rhode Island county has 23.0 FEMA declaration records; Newport County has 22, or 4% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 6% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Newport County received?
Newport County has received 13 major disaster declarations, representing 59% of all 22 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Newport County filed?
Newport County has 805 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $11.8M in payments, with an average of $14.7K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Newport County?
No. In Newport County, Hurricane has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $8.7M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Newport County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Newport County was 2013, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1978 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Newport County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Newport County, Rhode Island has an overall risk score of 36.4 out of 100 (Very Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Very Low; on community resilience, Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $13.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Newport County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Newport County is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Coastal Flooding (Relatively Moderate) and Earthquake (Very Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 5 years, drawn from 50 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 Newport County
Against a Rhode Island county mean of 23 declarations, Newport County, RI records 22, or 4% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (13 of 22) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Rhode Island overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 57% of recorded county totals, but its own Rhode Island 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.