FEMA Records
5
Low volume
Nevada · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Nye County, NV
5 FEMA disaster declarations (2005-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Snowstorm.
- 5
- FEMA declarations
- 1
- Major disasters
- 78
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Snowstorm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Start with the local benchmark for Nye County: 5 FEMA declaration records are 60% below the Nevada county mean, even though the count is higher than 2% of counties in the national registry. On FEMA's distinct National Risk Index model, which combines expected loss with vulnerability and resilience, the county ranks in the riskiest 22%.
- Riskiest 22%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 5
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 136
- 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 Nye County compare?
Nye County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
5 2nd percentile higher than 2% 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
Nye County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Nevada county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Nye County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $13.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very 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 Nye County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 136 paid claims, totaling $1.3M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $9.9K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Nevada county averages 12.4 federal declaration records, while Nye County has 5. The gap is 60% 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 78.3/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $24.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Very Low, 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 4.4 modeled event-days per year here, based on 44 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The state comparison is the clearest context for Nye County's moderate federal record. Its 5 declarations sit 60% below the Nevada county mean, with 1 Major Disaster entries among them. 2 records concern Snowstorm, the file's most frequent incident type. Spread across 15 years, the registry rate is 0.3 per year. FEMA reports authorized programs separately from the DR, EM, and FM codes.
22 /100
Historical Activity Index
Low historical activity
Nye County, NV · 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) Low
4/30
5 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.2x national county average)
County Disaster Density Low
5/25
5 declarations (0.4x state county average of 12)
Major Disaster Share Low
5/25
1 of 5 declarations are major disasters (20%)
Hazard Diversity Moderate
8/20
3 different disaster types declared in Nye County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
Moderate
vs. Nevada Avg
-60%
State avg: 12.4
vs. National Avg
-76%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.3
Over 15 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Nye 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
20%
Few majors
NRI risk score
78
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Nye 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 | 4.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 25 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 26 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1,512 years |
| Avalanche | Relatively Low | roughly once every 30 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 9.5 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | an average of 13 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 128 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 1,667 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 71 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Biological 2
Snowstorm 2
Hurricane 1
What Snowstorm declarations mean here
Snowstorm is the most frequent declaration type on Nye County's record, 40% of its declarations. Snow-related declarations work on a narrower basis than most other hazards: they are generally issued to reimburse the cost of snow removal and emergency protective measures, rather than to repair destroyed property.
The qualifying test is unusual too. FEMA assesses snowfall against record levels for the affected area, so the same storm total can qualify in a county where it is historically extreme and not qualify a few hundred miles north where it is an ordinary winter. A low snowstorm declaration count is therefore not evidence of mild winters.
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).
Emergency - 4 80.0%
of all 5 declarations
Major Disaster - 1 20.0%
of all 5 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 5 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 5 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4523 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3443 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3243 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 3204 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2005-02-23 |
| 3202 | RECORD AND/OR NEAR RECORD SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2005-02-17 |
Storm Events in Nevada
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Nye County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind | 1,647 | 0 | 2 | $10.4M |
| Heavy Snow | 926 | 0 | 0 | $123.0K |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 463 | 3 | 0 | $8.7M |
| Flash Flood | 315 | 7 | 2 | $36.7M |
| Excessive Heat | 252 | 376 | 17 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
136
Total Paid
$1.3M
Avg Per Claim
$9.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 78.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$24.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Heat Wave Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Avalanche Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Hail Very Low
Tornado 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: 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 Nye 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 Snowstorm. 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
Nye County's closest FEMA peer: Eau Claire County, WI
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Nye County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Nye County: NRI composite 78.3 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Nye County: 1 of 5 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Nye County shows 5 FEMA declarations, led by Snowstorm.
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 Nye County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Nye County's NFIP claims file (136 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 Nye County?
The most common disaster type in Nye County is Snowstorm, with 2 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does Nye County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Nevada average?
The typical Nevada county has 12.4 FEMA declaration records; Nye County has 5, or 60% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 76% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Nye County received?
Nye County has received 1 major disaster declaration, representing 20% of all 5 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Nye County filed?
Nye County has 136 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.3M in payments, with an average of $9.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Nye County?
No. In Nye County, Heat Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $13.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Nye County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Nye County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 2005 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Nye County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Nye County, Nevada has an overall risk score of 78.3 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Very High, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $24.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Nye County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Nye County is Heat Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Earthquake (Relatively Moderate) and Lightning (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts heat wave here at 4.4 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 44 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 Nye County
Against a Nevada county mean of 12 declarations, Nye County, NV records 5, or 60% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as moderate activity.
- Emergency is the largest group (4 of 5) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Nevada overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 2% of recorded county totals, but its own Nevada benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. Most-disaster rankings
- Use the data guide to separate this mid-volume insurance-claims file from declaration counts and modeled NRI risk. 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.