FEMA Records
15
Below median
Arizona · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Pima County, AZ
15 FEMA disaster declarations (1966-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 15
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 99
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Pima County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 15 declarations, more than 23% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 10% below the Arizona county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 1%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 1%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 15
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 583
- 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 04019 · Pima County 15 declarations · rank 2414/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 15
- MAJOR-MID 73%
- RANK-LOWER #2,414
- PHOTO-FINISH Polk
- NRI-HIGH 99
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-BELOW -10%
Nearest declaration peer: Polk, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Arizona state profile
Pima County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Pima County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Flathead · near 15
Flathead · near
15 declarations
- Murray · near 15
Murray · near
15 declarations
- Pima · this county 15
Pima · this county
15 declarations
- Polk · near 15
Polk · near
15 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Pima County carries 15 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2414 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Pima County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Pima County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Pima County
15 23rd percentile higher than 23% 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
Pima County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Pima County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $347.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Heat Wave 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 Pima County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 583 claims and $7.9M 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 $13.5K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
Start with the state benchmark: a Arizona county averages 16.7 federal declaration records, while Pima County has 15. The gap is 10% 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 99.1/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $531.4M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Relatively Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Heat Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 8.1 modeled event-days per year here, based on 93 historical events on record.
53 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Pima County, AZ · 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) Moderate
11/30
15 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
11/25
15 declarations (0.9x state county average of 17)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
11 of 15 declarations are major disasters (73%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Pima County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Pima 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
73%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
99
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Pima 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 | Very High | 8.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 230 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very High | an average of 13 times per year |
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 43 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 68 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 57 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 61 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 874 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 8
Fire 3
Biological 2
Severe Storm 1
Hurricane 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Pima County's record, 53% 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 - 11 73.3%
of all 15 declarations
Fire Management - 2 13.3%
of all 15 declarations
Emergency - 2 13.3%
of all 15 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 2 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1966 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 15 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 15 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5312 | BIG HORN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-06-11 |
| 4524 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3442 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 1660 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-09-07 |
| 3241 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-12 |
| 1477 | ASPEN FIRE | DR | Fire | 2003-07-14 |
| 2470 | ASPEN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2003-06-18 |
| 977 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-01-19 |
| 884 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-12-06 |
| 691 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1983-10-05 |
| 570 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1978-12-21 |
| 551 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1978-03-04 |
| 540 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1977-11-04 |
| 343 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-07-03 |
| 217 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1966-04-30 |
Storm Events in Arizona
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Pima County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | 2,094 | 45 | 18 | $149.9M |
| Excessive Heat | 1,812 | 1,497 | 120 | $0 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,680 | 3 | 19 | $75.9M |
| Heat | 727 | 1,206 | 39 | $0 |
| High Wind | 446 | 0 | 0 | $734.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
583
Total Paid
$7.9M
Avg Per Claim
$13.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 99.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$531.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Heat Wave Very High
Wildfire Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Very High
Lightning Very High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Avalanche Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Cold Wave 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 Pima County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Heat Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Very 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
Pima County's closest FEMA peer: Sonoma County, CA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Pima County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Pima County: NRI composite 99.1 (Relatively High).
Similar Major-disaster share
Pima County: 11 of 15 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Pima County shows 15 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
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 Pima County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Pima 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: 99.1 (Relatively High).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 15. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Pima County's NFIP claims file (583 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 Pima County?
The most common disaster type in Pima County is Flood, with 8 declarations. Other disaster types include Fire (3), Biological (2), Severe Storm (1).
How does Pima County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Arizona average?
The typical Arizona county has 16.7 FEMA declaration records; Pima County has 15, or 10% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 28% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Pima County received?
Pima County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 73% of all 15 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Pima County filed?
Pima County has 583 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $7.9M in payments, with an average of $13.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Pima County?
No. In Pima County, Heat Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $347.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Pima County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Pima County was 2020, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1966 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Pima County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Pima County, Arizona has an overall risk score of 99.1 out of 100 (Relatively High). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $531.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Pima County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Pima County as of the latest release is Heat Wave (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively High) and Riverine Flooding (Very High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts heat wave here at 8.1 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 93 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 Pima County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Arizona profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events