FEMA Records
24
Above median
New Mexico · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Otero County, NM
24 FEMA disaster declarations (1984-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 24
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 85
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Otero County. Its 24 FEMA declarations are 93% above the New Mexico county mean and exceed the count for 66% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 15%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 15%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 24
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 130
- 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 35035 · Otero County 24 declarations · rank 1011/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-HIGH
- DECL-HEAVY 24
- MAJOR-LIGHT 46%
- RANK-LOWER #1,011
- PHOTO-FINISH Eddy
- NRI-MID 85
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-HIGH +93%
Nearest declaration peer: Eddy, ND (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · New Mexico state profile
Otero County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Otero County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Deuel · near 24
Deuel · near
24 declarations
- Eddy · near 24
Eddy · near
24 declarations
- Otero · this county 24
Otero · this county
24 declarations
- Wichita · near 24
Wichita · near
24 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Otero County carries 24 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1011 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Otero County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Otero County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Otero County
24 Top 34% higher than 66% 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
Otero County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Otero County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $26.8M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Wildfire 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 Otero County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 130 paid claims, totaling $1.5M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $11.8K 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. Otero County's 24 federal records stand 93% above the New Mexico county mean of 12.5. 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 84.7/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $43.3M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Wildfire stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 105 years here.
65 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Otero County, NM · 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
24 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.2x national county average)
County Disaster Density Very High
24/25
24 declarations (1.9x state county average of 12)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
11/25
11 of 24 declarations are major disasters (46%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Otero County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Otero 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
46%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
85
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Otero 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 105 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 4.9 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 61 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 113 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 2.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 706 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 10,000 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 106 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 12
Severe Storm 5
Flood 4
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Otero County's record, 50% 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 - 11 45.8%
of all 24 declarations
Fire Management - 9 37.5%
of all 24 declarations
Emergency - 4 16.7%
of all 24 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 3 | |
Show 1 earlier declaration years
| 1984 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 24 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 24 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4886 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2025-07-22 |
| 3628 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2025-07-10 |
| 4795 | SOUTH FORK FIRE, SALT FIRE, AND FLOODING | DR | Fire | 2024-06-20 |
| 5498 | SALT FIRE | FM | Fire | 2024-06-18 |
| 5497 | SOUTH FORK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2024-06-17 |
| 4529 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3460 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5240 | SOLDIER CANYON FIRE | FM | Fire | 2018-06-08 |
| 5134 | TIMBERON FIRE | FM | Fire | 2016-07-14 |
| 4199 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-10-29 |
| 4197 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-10-06 |
| 4152 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2013-10-29 |
| 2934 | LITTLE LEWIS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2011-06-29 |
| 1962 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND EXTREME COLD TEMPERATURES | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-03-24 |
| 2818 | BUCKWOOD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2009-05-07 |
| 1783 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-08-14 |
| 1659 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-08-30 |
| 3229 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-07 |
| 2402 | NM - PENASCO FIRE - 05-01-02 | FM | Fire | 2002-05-01 |
| 2364 | NM -TRAP AND SKEET FIRE - 06/02/2001 | FM | Fire | 2001-06-03 |
Show 4 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2297 | SCOTT ABLE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2000-05-14 |
| 1329 | SEVERE FOREST FIRE | DR | Fire | 2000-05-13 |
| 3154 | SEVERE FIRE THREATS | EM | Fire | 2000-05-10 |
| 722 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-09-06 |
Storm Events in New Mexico
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Otero County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drought | 3,382 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 2,351 | 0 | 3 | $18.9M |
| Hail | 1,669 | 1 | 24 | $17.2M |
| Heavy Snow | 986 | 6 | 72 | $2.5M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 952 | 1 | 13 | $25.1M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
130
Total Paid
$1.5M
Avg Per Claim
$11.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 84.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$43.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Wildfire Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Hurricane 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: Wildfire
Wildfire risk in the model reflects fuel, terrain, weather and how much development sits in the wildland-urban interface. It is one of the few hazards where the exposure is materially changed by land management and building choices, not only by where the county happens to be.
For Otero County the two measures on this page point the same way: Wildfire is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Fire 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
Otero County's closest FEMA peer: Montgomery County, AL
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Otero County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Otero County shows 24 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
Otero County: 11 of 24 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Otero County: NRI composite 84.7 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Otero County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Otero 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: 84.7 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 24. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Otero County's NFIP claims file (130 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 Otero County?
The most common disaster type in Otero County is Fire, with 12 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (5), Flood (4), Biological (2).
How does Otero County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New Mexico average?
FEMA lists 24 declaration records for Otero County. That is 93% above the New Mexico county mean of 12.5. Its count is also 16% 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 Otero County received?
Otero County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 46% of all 24 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Otero County filed?
Otero County has 130 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.5M in payments, with an average of $11.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Otero County?
No. In Otero County, Wildfire has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $26.8M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Otero County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Otero County was 2000, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1984 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Otero County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Otero County, New Mexico has an overall risk score of 84.7 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $43.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Otero County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Otero County is Wildfire (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Winter Weather (Relatively High) and Lightning (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts wildfire here at roughly once every 105 years. 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 Otero County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · New Mexico profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events