FEMA Records
22
Above median
Minnesota · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Nicollet County, MN
22 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 22
- FEMA declarations
- 18
- Major disasters
- 45
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Nicollet County. Its 22 FEMA declarations are 24% above the Minnesota county mean and exceed the count for 57% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 45%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 45%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 22
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 59
- 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 27103 · Nicollet County 22 declarations · rank 1284/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 22
- MAJOR-HEAVY 82%
- RANK-LOWER #1,284
- PHOTO-FINISH Hardy
- NRI-LOW 45
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-ABOVE +24%
Nearest declaration peer: Hardy, WV (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Minnesota state profile
Nicollet County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Nicollet County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Hardy · near 22
Hardy · near
22 declarations
- Nicollet · this county 22
Nicollet · this county
22 declarations
- Prairie · near 22
Prairie · near
22 declarations
- St. Francis · near 22
St. Francis · near
22 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Nicollet County carries 22 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1284 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Nicollet County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Nicollet County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Nicollet County
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 · 2026-08-25
Nicollet County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Nicollet County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $8.5M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), while Strong Wind 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 Nicollet County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 59 paid claims, totaling $553.0K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $9.4K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Nicollet County's 22 federal records stand 24% above the Minnesota county mean of 17.7. 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
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 45.4/100 for this county (Relatively Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Relatively Low (roughly $18.1M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Very Low) and community resilience (Very High) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Strong Wind stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 4 times per year here, based on 152 historical events on record.
67 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Nicollet 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) High
16/30
22 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
16/25
22 declarations (1.2x state county average of 18)
Major Disaster Share Very High
20/25
18 of 22 declarations are major disasters (82%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Nicollet County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Nicollet 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
82%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
45
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Nicollet 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 4 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 21 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 5.4 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 11 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 14 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 16 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 5.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 8,273 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 37 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 3,106 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 13
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Tornado 2
Hurricane 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Nicollet County's record, 59% 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 - 18 81.8%
of all 22 declarations
Emergency - 4 18.2%
of all 22 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 3 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1968 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4797 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2024-06-28 |
| 4531 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-07 |
| 3453 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4442 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-06-12 |
| 4390 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2018-09-05 |
| 4182 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2014-07-21 |
| 1982 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-05-10 |
| 1941 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-10-13 |
| 1921 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2010-07-02 |
| 1900 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2010-04-19 |
| 3310 | FLOODING | EM | Flood | 2010-03-19 |
| 3242 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1370 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Flood | 2001-05-16 |
| 1212 | TORNADOES AND SEVERE STORMS | DR | Tornado | 1998-04-01 |
| 1175 | SEVERE FLOODING, HIGH WINDS,SEVERE STORMS | DR | Flood | 1997-04-08 |
| 1158 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-16 |
| 1116 | FLOODING AND SEVERE STORMS | DR | Flood | 1996-06-01 |
| 993 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1993-06-11 |
| 3013 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-06-17 |
| 255 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-04-18 |
Show 2 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 249 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1968-08-15 |
| 188 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1965-04-11 |
Storm Events in Minnesota
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Nicollet 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
59
Total Paid
$553.0K
Avg Per Claim
$9.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 45.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$18.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Strong Wind Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Landslide Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Lightning Very 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: Strong Wind
Strong Wind covers damaging non-thunderstorm, non-tornadic wind, the kind produced by steep pressure gradients and downslope events. It is a broad, frequent, low-drama hazard: roofs, signage, power lines and high-profile vehicles, spread across a wide area rather than concentrated on a path.
Worth noting for Nicollet County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Strong Wind 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
Nicollet County's closest FEMA peer: Monroe County, OH
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Nicollet County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Nicollet County shows 22 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Nicollet County: 18 of 22 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Nicollet County: NRI composite 45.4 (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 Nicollet County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Nicollet 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: 45.4 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 22. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Nicollet County's NFIP claims file (59 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 Nicollet County?
The most common disaster type in Nicollet County is Flood, with 13 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (3), Biological (2), Tornado (2).
How does Nicollet County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Minnesota average?
FEMA lists 22 declaration records for Nicollet County. That is 24% above the Minnesota county mean of 17.7. Its count is also 6% 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 Nicollet County received?
Nicollet County has received 18 major disaster declarations, representing 82% of all 22 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Nicollet County filed?
Nicollet County has 59 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $553.0K in payments, with an average of $9.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Nicollet County?
No. In Nicollet County, Strong Wind has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $8.5M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Nicollet County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Nicollet County was 2010, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Nicollet County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Nicollet County, Minnesota has an overall risk score of 45.4 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Very Low; on community resilience, Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $18.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Nicollet County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Nicollet County is Strong Wind (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Winter Weather (Relatively Moderate) and Hail (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts strong wind here at an average of 4 times per year, drawn from 152 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 Nicollet County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Minnesota profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events