FEMA Records
42
Very high volume
California · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Orange County, CA
42 FEMA disaster declarations (1969-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very High. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 42
- FEMA declarations
- 24
- Major disasters
- 100
- NRI risk · Very High
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Orange County. Its 42 FEMA declarations are 47% above the California county mean and exceed the count for 97% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 1%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 1%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 42
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 3,834
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 06059 · Orange County 42 declarations · rank 77/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 42
- MAJOR-MID 57%
- RANK-UPPER #77
- PHOTO-FINISH Lee
- NRI-HIGH Very High
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-ABOVE +47%
Nearest declaration peer: Lee, KY (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · California state profile
Orange County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Orange County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Avoyelles · near
Avoyelles · near
42 declarations
- Lee · near
Lee · near
42 declarations
- Orange · this county
Orange · this county
42 declarations
- York · near
York · near
42 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Orange County carries 42 FEMA declaration records, ranked 77 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Orange County ranks in the national declaration registry
Orange County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Orange County
42 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 · 2026-08-25
Orange County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Orange County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 3,834 claims and $21.1M 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 $5.5K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Orange County's 42 federal records stand 47% above the California county mean of 28.5. 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
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 99.8/100 (Very High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Very High (roughly $1.9B in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Earthquake stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 10 years here.
82 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Orange County, CA · 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
30/30
42 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (2.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
18/25
42 declarations (1.5x state county average of 29)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
24 of 42 declarations are major disasters (57%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Orange County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Orange 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
100
Very High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Orange 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | Very High | roughly once every 10 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very High | an average of 2.9 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 93 years |
| Landslide | Relatively High | an average of 18 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively High | 7.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 8 years |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 10 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 7.4 times per year |
| Tsunami | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 6 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 63 modeled event-days per year |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 5 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 19
Flood 11
Severe Storm 5
Biological 2
Earthquake 2
Chemical 1
Hurricane 1
Coastal Storm 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Orange County's record, 45% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
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 - 24 57.1%
of all 42 declarations
Fire Management - 11 26.2%
of all 42 declarations
Emergency - 7 16.7%
of all 42 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 2 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 3 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
Show 13 earlier declaration years
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 2 | |
| 1994 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1988 | 2 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
| 1982 | 1 | |
| 1981 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 42 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 42 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3646 | CHEMICAL RELEASE | EM | Chemical | 2026-05-25 |
| 3592 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2023-03-10 |
| 3591 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2023-01-09 |
| 5439 | COASTAL FIRE | FM | Fire | 2022-05-12 |
| 5383 | BOND FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-12-03 |
| 5381 | BLUE RIDGE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-10-26 |
| 5380 | SILVERADO FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-10-26 |
| 4482 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-22 |
| 3428 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4344 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2017-10-10 |
| 5223 | CANYON 2 FIRE | FM | Fire | 2017-10-09 |
| 5213 | CANYON FIRE | FM | Fire | 2017-09-26 |
| 4305 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2017-03-16 |
| 1952 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND DEBRIS AND MUD FLOWS | DR | Flood | 2011-01-26 |
| 1810 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2008-11-18 |
| 2792 | FREEWAY FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2008-11-15 |
| 1731 | WILDFIRES, FLOODING, MUD FLOWS, AND DEBRIS FLOWS | DR | Fire | 2007-10-24 |
| 3279 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2007-10-23 |
| 2737 | SANTIAGO FIRE | FM | Fire | 2007-10-22 |
| 2683 | 241 FIRE | FM | Fire | 2007-03-11 |
Show 22 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2630 | SIERRA FIRE | FM | Fire | 2006-02-06 |
| 3248 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1585 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWS | DR | Severe Storm | 2005-04-14 |
| 1577 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, DEBRIS FLOWS, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2005-02-04 |
| 2405 | ANTONIO FIRE | FM | Fire | 2002-05-14 |
| 1203 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-02-09 |
| 3120 | SEVERE FIRESTORMS | EM | Fire | 1996-10-23 |
| 1046 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING LANDSLIDES, MUD FLOW | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-03-12 |
| 1044 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, MUD FLOWS | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-01-10 |
| 1008 | NORTHRIDGE EARTHQUAKE | DR | Earthquake | 1994-01-17 |
| 1005 | FIRES, MUD/LANDSLIDES, FLOODING, SOIL EROSION | DR | Fire | 1993-10-28 |
| 979 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, MUD & LAND SLIDES, & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-02-03 |
| 935 | RAIN/SNOW/WIND STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 1992-02-25 |
| 812 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH TIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1988-02-05 |
| 799 | EARTHQUAKE & AFTERSHOCKS | DR | Earthquake | 1987-10-07 |
| 677 | COASTAL STORMS, FLOODS, SLIDES & TORNADOES | DR | Coastal Storm | 1983-02-09 |
| 657 | URBAN FIRE | DR | Fire | 1982-04-24 |
| 635 | BRUSH & TIMBER FIRES | DR | Fire | 1980-11-27 |
| 615 | SEVERE STORMS, MUDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1980-02-21 |
| 566 | LANDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 1978-10-09 |
| 547 | COASTAL STORMS, MUDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1978-02-15 |
| 253 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-01-26 |
Storm Events in California
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Orange County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind | 4,070 | 13 | 27 | $228.2M |
| Flood | 3,132 | 26 | 25 | $985.1M |
| Heavy Snow | 1,814 | 6 | 0 | $1.6M |
| Dense Fog | 1,605 | 52 | 148 | $2.8M |
| Drought | 1,421 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
3,834
Total Paid
$21.1M
Avg Per Claim
$5.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very High
Score: 99.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very High
$1.9B/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Earthquake Very High
Riverine Flooding Very High
Wildfire Relatively High
Landslide Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively High
Coastal Flooding Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Tsunami Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Cold Wave No Rating
Hurricane 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: Earthquake
Earthquake is the model's clearest example of a hazard with no season and no warning. Its expected loss is driven less by how often shaking occurs than by how much of the building stock predates modern seismic codes, so exposure can be high in places where nothing has happened for a long time.
Worth noting for Orange County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Earthquake carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Fire. 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
Orange County's closest FEMA peer: Acadia Parish, LA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Orange County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Orange County shows 42 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
Orange County: 24 of 42 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Orange County: NRI composite 99.8 (Very 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 Orange County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Orange 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: 99.8 (Very High).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 42. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Orange County's NFIP claims file (3,834 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 Orange County?
The most common disaster type in Orange County is Fire, with 19 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (11), Severe Storm (5), Biological (2).
How does Orange County's FEMA declaration record compare with the California average?
FEMA lists 42 declaration records for Orange County. That is 47% above the California county mean of 28.5. Its count is also 103% 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 Orange County received?
Orange County has received 24 major disaster declarations, representing 57% of all 42 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Orange County filed?
Orange County has 3,834 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $21.1M in payments, with an average of $5.5K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Orange County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Orange County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1969 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Orange County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Orange County, California has an overall risk score of 99.8 out of 100 (Very High). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very High, representing $1.9B in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Orange County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Orange County is Earthquake (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Riverine Flooding (Very High) and Wildfire (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts earthquake here at roughly once every 10 years. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Orange County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · California profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events