FEMA Records
23
Above median
Arizona · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Pinal County, AZ
23 FEMA disaster declarations (1966-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 23
- FEMA declarations
- 10
- Major disasters
- 94
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Pinal County. Its 23 FEMA declarations are 38% above the Arizona county mean and exceed the count for 62% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 6%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 6%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 23
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 150
- 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 04021 · Pinal County 23 declarations · rank 1228/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 23
- MAJOR-LIGHT 43%
- RANK-LOWER #1,228
- PHOTO-FINISH Roanoke
- NRI-MID 94
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-ABOVE +38%
Nearest declaration peer: Roanoke, VA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Arizona state profile
Pinal County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Pinal County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Amherst · near 23
Amherst · near
23 declarations
- Pinal · this county 23
Pinal · this county
23 declarations
- Roanoke · near 23
Roanoke · near
23 declarations
- Vance · near 23
Vance · near
23 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Pinal County carries 23 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1228 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Pinal County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Pinal County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Pinal County
23 Top 38% higher than 62% 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
Pinal County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Pinal County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $92.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), 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 Pinal County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 150 paid claims, totaling $3.5M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $23.1K 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. Pinal County's 23 federal records stand 38% above the Arizona county mean of 16.7. 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 93.8/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $137.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate 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 13 modeled event-days per year here, based on 119 historical events on record.
60 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Pinal 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) High
17/30
23 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
17/25
23 declarations (1.4x state county average of 17)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
11/25
10 of 23 declarations are major disasters (43%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Pinal County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Pinal 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
43%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
94
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Pinal 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 | 13 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 441 years |
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 42 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 3.9 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively High | 55 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 369 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 94 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 4,421 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 10
Flood 6
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Drought 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Pinal County's record, 43% 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).
Fire Management - 10 43.5%
of all 23 declarations
Major Disaster - 10 43.5%
of all 23 declarations
Emergency - 3 13.0%
of all 23 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1966 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 23 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 23 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5585 | CODY FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-05-22 |
| 5505 | SHAKE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2024-07-09 |
| 5493 | SIMMONS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2024-05-29 |
| 5389 | TELEGRAPH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2021-06-06 |
| 5385 | MARGO FIRE | FM | Fire | 2021-04-08 |
| 4524 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3442 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5188 | ROACH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2017-07-08 |
| 5086 | KEARNY RIVER FIRE | FM | Fire | 2015-06-17 |
| 1660 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-09-07 |
| 3241 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-12 |
| 2558 | VEKOL FIRE-05-26-2005 | FM | Fire | 2005-05-26 |
| 1586 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2005-04-14 |
| 2470 | ASPEN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2003-06-18 |
| 2439 | AZ - ORACLE HILLS FIRE - 07/14/2002 | FM | Fire | 2002-07-14 |
| 1347 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-10-27 |
| 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 |
| 540 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1977-11-04 |
Show 3 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3038 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-04-15 |
| 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 Pinal 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
150
Total Paid
$3.5M
Avg Per Claim
$23.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 93.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$137.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Heat Wave Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively High
Lightning Very High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Drought Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Winter Weather 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 Pinal 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 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
Pinal County's closest FEMA peer: Brantley County, GA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Pinal County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Pinal County shows 23 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
Pinal County: 10 of 23 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Pinal County: NRI composite 93.8 (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 Pinal County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Pinal 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: 93.8 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 23. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Pinal County's NFIP claims file (150 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 Pinal County?
The most common disaster type in Pinal County is Fire, with 10 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (6), Severe Storm (3), Biological (2).
How does Pinal County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Arizona average?
FEMA lists 23 declaration records for Pinal County. That is 38% above the Arizona county mean of 16.7. Its count is also 11% 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 Pinal County received?
Pinal County has received 10 major disaster declarations, representing 43% of all 23 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Pinal County filed?
Pinal County has 150 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $3.5M in payments, with an average of $23.1K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Pinal County?
No. In Pinal County, Heat Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $92.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Pinal County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Pinal County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1966 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Pinal County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Pinal County, Arizona has an overall risk score of 93.8 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Moderate, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $137.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Pinal County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Pinal County as of the latest release is Heat Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively High) and Lightning (Very High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts heat wave here at 13 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 119 historical events on record. 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 Pinal County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Arizona profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events