FEMA Records
23
Above median
Nebraska · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Platte County, NE
23 FEMA disaster declarations (1966-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 23
- FEMA declarations
- 21
- Major disasters
- 71
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Platte County. Its 23 FEMA declarations are 37% above the Nebraska 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 29%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 29%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 23
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 87
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 31141 · Platte County 23 declarations · rank 1116/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 23
- MAJOR-HEAVY 91%
- RANK-LOWER #1,116
- PHOTO-FINISH Roanoke
- NRI-LOW 71
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +37%
Nearest declaration peer: Roanoke, VA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Nebraska state profile
Platte County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Platte County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Amherst · near 23
Amherst · near
23 declarations
- Platte · this county 23
Platte · 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 Platte County carries 23 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1116 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Platte County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Platte County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Platte 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
Platte County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Platte County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $10.3M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Hail 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 Platte County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 87 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 $16.7K 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. Platte County's 23 federal records stand 37% above the Nebraska county mean of 16.8. 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 70.6/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $32.5M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Moderate community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hail stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 6.3 times per year here, based on 240 historical events on record.
75 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Platte County, NE · 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 Very High
23/25
21 of 23 declarations are major disasters (91%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Platte County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Platte 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
91%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
71
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Platte 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hail | Relatively High | an average of 6.3 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 3.4 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 14 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 43 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 2,076 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 5.3 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 43 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 5.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,548 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 10 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 9
Flood 8
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Snowstorm 1
Hurricane 1
Severe Ice Storm 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Platte County's record, 39% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
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 - 21 91.3%
of all 23 declarations
Emergency - 2 8.7%
of all 23 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 3 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 2 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
Show 4 earlier declaration years
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4868 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Winter Storm | 2025-05-21 |
| 4808 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-08-20 |
| 4641 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2022-02-23 |
| 4521 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3483 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4420 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-03-21 |
| 4375 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Snowstorm | 2018-06-29 |
| 4325 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2017-08-01 |
| 1924 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-07-15 |
| 1902 | SEVERE STORMS, ICE JAMS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2010-04-21 |
| 1878 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-02-25 |
| 1770 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-06-20 |
| 1674 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-01-07 |
| 3245 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUEES | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1480 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-07-21 |
| 998 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-07-19 |
| 983 | ICE JAMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-04-02 |
| 873 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-07-04 |
| 552 | STORMS, ICE JAMS, SNOWMELT & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1978-03-24 |
| 500 | ICE STORMS & HIGH WINDS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 1976-04-08 |
Show 3 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 303 | FLOODS | DR | Flood | 1971-02-23 |
| 228 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1967-07-18 |
| 221 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1966-08-31 |
Storm Events in Nebraska
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Platte County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 6,079 | 0 | 2 | $237.7M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 4,757 | 3 | 19 | $228.1M |
| Drought | 1,658 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 1,647 | 1 | 1 | $22.1M |
| Winter Storm | 1,155 | 0 | 2 | $335.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
87
Total Paid
$1.5M
Avg Per Claim
$16.7K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 70.6/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$32.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Tornado Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Drought Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively High
Wildfire Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Landslide 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: Hail
Hail is among the most expensive hazards in the model relative to how little it threatens life. It concentrates on roofs, vehicles and crops, and a single severe storm can generate an insurance loss across a metropolitan area without a single injury.
For Platte County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hail is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Severe Storm 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
Platte County's closest FEMA peer: Iowa County, IA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Platte County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Platte County shows 23 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Platte County: 21 of 23 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Platte County: NRI composite 70.6 (Relatively 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 Platte County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Platte 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: 70.6 (Relatively Low).
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
Platte County's NFIP claims file (87 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 Platte County?
The most common disaster type in Platte County is Severe Storm, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (8), Biological (2), Winter Storm (1).
How does Platte County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Nebraska average?
FEMA lists 23 declaration records for Platte County. That is 37% above the Nebraska county mean of 16.8. 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 Platte County received?
Platte County has received 21 major disaster declarations, representing 91% of all 23 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Platte County filed?
Platte County has 87 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.5M in payments, with an average of $16.7K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Platte County?
No. In Platte County, Hail has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $10.3M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Platte County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Platte County was 2010, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1966 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Platte County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Platte County, Nebraska has an overall risk score of 70.6 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $32.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Platte County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Platte County is Hail (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Strong Wind (Relatively High) and Tornado (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 6.3 times per year, drawn from 240 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 Platte County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Nebraska profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events