FEMA Records
39
Very high volume
Oklahoma · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Payne County, OK
39 FEMA disaster declarations (1974-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 39
- FEMA declarations
- 24
- Major disasters
- 84
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Payne County. Its 39 FEMA declarations are 21% above the Oklahoma county mean and exceed the count for 96% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 16%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 16%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 39
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 100
- 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.
How does Payne County compare?
Payne County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
39 Top 4% higher than 96% 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
Payne County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Oklahoma county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Payne County is led by Cold Wave (about $15.3M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Ice Storm carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Very 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 Payne County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 100 paid claims, totaling $1.2M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $12.5K 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. Payne County's 39 federal records stand 21% above the Oklahoma county mean of 32.2. 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 83.9/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $50.3M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Ice Storm stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1.1 times per year here, based on 73 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 39 entries for Payne County, including 24 Major Disaster records, 21% above the Oklahoma county mean. Across the 51-year span, that works out to 0.8 declarations a year. Fire leads the file with 11 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
76 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Payne County, OK · 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
28/30
39 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
15/25
39 declarations (1.2x state county average of 32)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
24 of 39 declarations are major disasters (62%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Payne County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Oklahoma Avg
+21%
State avg: 32.2
vs. National Avg
+88%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.8
Over 51 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Payne 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
62%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
84
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Payne 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Storm | Very High | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 2.2 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively High | an average of 11 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 164 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 19 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 9.4 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 6.8 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 36 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 962 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 52 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 135 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 11
Severe Storm 10
Severe Ice Storm 9
Flood 4
Biological 2
Tornado 2
Hurricane 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Payne County's record, 28% 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 61.5%
of all 39 declarations
Emergency - 8 20.5%
of all 39 declarations
Fire Management - 7 17.9%
of all 39 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 4 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
Show 10 earlier declaration years
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1982 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 2 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 39 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 39 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4866 | WILDFIRES AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Fire | 2025-05-21 |
| 5566 | UNDERWOOD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-03-15 |
| 5558 | STILLWATER FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-03-14 |
| 5543 | EUCHEE CREEK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2024-10-30 |
| 4721 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-07-19 |
| 4587 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-24 |
| 3555 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-17 |
| 4575 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2020-12-21 |
| 4530 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3462 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4438 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-06-01 |
| 5003 | DRUMRIGHT FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-08-04 |
| 5002 | GLENCOE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-08-04 |
| 3316 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-02-02 |
| 1876 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-02-25 |
| 3308 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2010-01-30 |
| 1846 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2009-06-19 |
| 2813 | MULHALL FIRE | FM | Fire | 2009-04-10 |
| 1735 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-12-18 |
| 3280 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-12-10 |
Show 19 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1712 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-07-07 |
| 3272 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-01-14 |
| 2623 | NORTH STILLWATER FIRE | FM | Fire | 2006-01-19 |
| 1623 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-10 |
| 3219 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1452 | SEVERE ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2003-02-04 |
| 1401 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2002-02-01 |
| 1384 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-06-29 |
| 1355 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2001-01-05 |
| 1272 | OK, TORNADOES 5/3/99 | DR | Tornado | 1999-05-04 |
| 3118 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | EM | Fire | 1996-02-27 |
| 991 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1993-05-12 |
| 866 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-05-18 |
| 778 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-10-14 |
| 704 | SEVERE STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1984-05-03 |
| 662 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1982-06-18 |
| 474 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING & TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1975-07-09 |
| 453 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-11-26 |
| 441 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-06-10 |
Storm Events in Oklahoma
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Payne County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 5,894 | 0 | 1 | $19.8M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,592 | 6 | 36 | $199.5M |
| Drought | 2,935 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heat | 2,134 | 7 | 428 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 1,771 | 2 | 401 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
100
Total Paid
$1.2M
Avg Per Claim
$12.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 83.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$50.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Ice Storm Very High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Hail Relatively High
Tornado Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Hurricane 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: Ice Storm
Ice storms load power lines and tree limbs with accumulating freezing rain until they fail. The characteristic cost is infrastructure and multi-day power loss across a wide area rather than structural damage to buildings, which is why their consequences often outlast the weather that caused them.
Worth noting for Payne County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Ice Storm 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
Payne County's closest FEMA peer: Holmes County, FL
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Payne County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Payne County shows 39 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
Payne County: 24 of 39 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Payne County: NRI composite 83.9 (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 Payne County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Payne County's NFIP claims file (100 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 Payne County?
The most common disaster type in Payne County is Fire, with 11 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (10), Severe Ice Storm (9), Flood (4).
How does Payne County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Oklahoma average?
FEMA lists 39 declaration records for Payne County. That is 21% above the Oklahoma county mean of 32.2. Its count is also 88% 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 Payne County received?
Payne County has received 24 major disaster declarations, representing 62% of all 39 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Payne County filed?
Payne County has 100 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.2M in payments, with an average of $12.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Payne County?
No. In Payne County, Ice Storm has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Cold Wave leads Expected Annual Loss at about $15.3M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Payne County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Payne County was 2025, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1974 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Payne County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Payne County, Oklahoma has an overall risk score of 83.9 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Moderate, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $50.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Payne County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Payne County as of the latest release is Ice Storm (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively High) and Hail (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts ice storm here at an average of 1.1 times per year, drawn from 73 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 Payne County
Payne County, OK has 39 federal declaration records, 21% more than the Oklahoma county mean of 32; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 24 of 39 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Oklahoma overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Oklahoma mean and the totals for 96% of 3,266 U.S. counties. 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
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
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.