FEMA Records
8
Low volume
Utah · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Piute County, UT
8 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 8
- FEMA declarations
- 3
- Major disasters
- 1
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Start with the local benchmark for Piute County: 8 FEMA declaration records are 6% below the Utah county mean, even though the count is higher than 6% of counties in the national registry. On FEMA's distinct National Risk Index model, which combines expected loss with vulnerability and resilience, the county ranks safer than 1%.
- Safer than 1%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 8
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1
- 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 49031 · Piute County 8 declarations · rank 3040/3,266
DECL-LIGHT · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-MODERATE · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-LIGHT 8
- MAJOR-LIGHT 38%
- RANK-LOWER #3,040
- PHOTO-FINISH Marion
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-MODERATE Moderate
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-BELOW -6%
Nearest declaration peer: Marion, IL (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Utah state profile
Piute County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Piute County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Kane · near 8
Kane · near
8 declarations
- Marion · near 8
Marion · near
8 declarations
- Mesa · near 8
Mesa · near
8 declarations
- Piute · this county 8
Piute · this county
8 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Piute County carries 8 FEMA declaration records, ranked 3040 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Piute County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Piute County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Piute County
8 6th percentile higher than 6% 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
Piute County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Piute County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $576.5K Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Landslide carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 Piute County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits at the very bottom of FEMA's National Risk Index nationally, a composite score of 0.9/100 (rated Very Low). Projected losses are minimal, Expected Annual Loss reads Very Low (roughly $1.3M in annualized losses), and the county's exposure is shaped by a Relatively Low social-vulnerability profile and Very Low community resilience. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Landslide carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 1 years here.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 1 claim and $3.7K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
Start with the state benchmark: a Utah county averages 8.5 federal declaration records, while Piute County has 8. The gap is 6% 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.
40 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Piute County, UT · 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) Low
6/30
8 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.4x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
8 declarations (0.9x state county average of 8)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
9/25
3 of 8 declarations are major disasters (38%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Piute County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Piute 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
38%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
1
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Piute 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 28 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,011 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 75 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 30 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 76 modeled event-days per year |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 3,333 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 45 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 66 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 14 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 2
Biological 2
Flood 2
Coastal Storm 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Piute County's record, 25% 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 - 3 37.5%
of all 8 declarations
Emergency - 3 37.5%
of all 8 declarations
Fire Management - 2 25.0%
of all 8 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 8 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 8 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5600 | MONROE CANYON FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-07-16 |
| 5504 | SILVER KING FIRE | FM | Fire | 2024-07-07 |
| 4525 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3478 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4011 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-08-08 |
| 3223 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-05 |
| 680 | SEVERE STORMS, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1983-04-30 |
| 3024 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-20 |
Storm Events in Utah
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Piute County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,382 | 3 | 7 | $2.2M |
| Flash Flood | 536 | 29 | 17 | $101.2M |
| High Wind | 496 | 4 | 60 | $12.7M |
| Heavy Snow | 488 | 1 | 2 | $2.4M |
| Winter Storm | 344 | 1 | 36 | $435.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1
Total Paid
$3.7K
Avg Per Claim
$3.7K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 0.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$1.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Landslide Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Avalanche Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Hail Very Low
Cold Wave 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: Landslide
Landslide risk is a function of slope, soil and water, so it is usually a SECOND-ORDER hazard: it is triggered by the rainfall, snowmelt, wildfire burn scars or seismic shaking that came first. That is why a county can carry high landslide exposure whose realized damage is recorded under a flood or storm declaration instead.
Worth noting for Piute County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Landslide carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), 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
Piute County's closest FEMA peer: Natrona County, WY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Piute County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Piute County shows 8 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Piute County: 3 of 8 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Piute County: NRI composite 0.9 (Very Low).
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 Piute County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Piute 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: 0.9 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 8. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
FEMA's National Risk Index flags Landslide as the top modeled exposure here (Relatively Moderate); the guide explains how that model differs from declaration counts.
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 Piute County?
The most common disaster type in Piute County is Flood, with 2 declarations. Other disaster types include Fire (2), Biological (2), Coastal Storm (1).
How does Piute County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Utah average?
The typical Utah county has 8.5 FEMA declaration records; Piute County has 8, or 6% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 61% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Piute County received?
Piute County has received 3 major disaster declarations, representing 38% of all 8 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Piute County filed?
Piute County has 1 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $3.7K in payments, with an average of $3.7K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Piute County?
No. In Piute County, Landslide has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $576.5K. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Piute County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Piute County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Piute County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Piute County, Utah has an overall risk score of 0.9 out of 100 (Very Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $1.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Piute County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Piute County as of the latest release is Landslide (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Winter Weather (Relatively Low) and Wildfire (Very Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts landslide here at roughly once every 1 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 Piute County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Utah profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events