FEMA Records
31
High volume
Minnesota · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Polk County, MN
31 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2022), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 31
- FEMA declarations
- 26
- Major disasters
- 67
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Polk County. Its 31 FEMA declarations are 75% above the Minnesota county mean and exceed the count for 88% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 33%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 33%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 31
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,455
- 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 27119 · Polk County 31 declarations · rank 349/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-HIGH
- DECL-HEAVY 31
- MAJOR-HEAVY 84%
- RANK-MID #349
- PHOTO-FINISH Galveston
- NRI-LOW 67
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-HIGH +75%
Nearest declaration peer: Galveston, TX (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Minnesota state profile
Polk County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Polk County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Galveston · near 31
Galveston · near
31 declarations
- Orange · near 31
Orange · near
31 declarations
- Polk · this county 31
Polk · this county
31 declarations
- Woodward · near 31
Woodward · near
31 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Polk County carries 31 FEMA declaration records, ranked 349 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Polk County ranks in the national declaration registry
Polk County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Polk County
31 Top 12% higher than 88% 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
Polk County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Polk County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $13.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Winter Weather 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 Polk County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,455 claims and $36.3M 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 $24.9K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Polk County's 31 federal records stand 75% above the Minnesota county mean of 17.7. 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 67.0/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $26.9M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Winter Weather stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 23 times per year here, based on 430 historical events on record.
83 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Polk County, MN · 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
22/30
31 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density Very High
22/25
31 declarations (1.8x state county average of 18)
Major Disaster Share Very High
21/25
26 of 31 declarations are major disasters (84%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Polk County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Polk 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
84%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
67
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Polk 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 23 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 21 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 8.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 189 years |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.6 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 1.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 28 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 11,236 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 17
Severe Storm 8
Biological 2
Tornado 1
Hurricane 1
Severe Ice Storm 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Polk County's record, 55% 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 - 26 83.9%
of all 31 declarations
Emergency - 5 16.1%
of all 31 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 3 | |
| 2009 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 10 earlier declaration years
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 2 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1970 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
| 1966 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 31 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 31 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4659 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2022-07-13 |
| 4531 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-07 |
| 3453 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4442 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-06-12 |
| 4390 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2018-09-05 |
| 1982 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-05-10 |
| 1921 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2010-07-02 |
| 1900 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2010-04-19 |
| 3310 | FLOODING | EM | Flood | 2010-03-19 |
| 1830 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-04-09 |
| 3304 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Storm | 2009-03-26 |
| 1648 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2006-06-05 |
| 3242 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1419 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-06-14 |
| 1370 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Flood | 2001-05-16 |
| 1288 | SEVERE ICE STORM AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 1999-08-26 |
| 1175 | SEVERE FLOODING, HIGH WINDS,SEVERE STORMS | DR | Flood | 1997-04-08 |
| 1158 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-16 |
| 1116 | FLOODING AND SEVERE STORMS | DR | Flood | 1996-06-01 |
| 993 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1993-06-11 |
Show 11 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 824 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1989-05-08 |
| 797 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1987-08-06 |
| 582 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1979-04-30 |
| 560 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, HAIL & TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1978-07-08 |
| 555 | STORMS, ICE JAMS, SNOWMELT & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1978-04-22 |
| 3013 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-06-17 |
| 476 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1975-07-17 |
| 291 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1970-07-22 |
| 255 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-04-18 |
| 215 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1966-03-22 |
| 188 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1965-04-11 |
Storm Events in Minnesota
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Polk County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 4,420 | 13 | 25 | $68.2M |
| Hail | 4,203 | 0 | 0 | $34.5M |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 1,789 | 7 | 4 | $55.0K |
| Winter Storm | 1,695 | 2 | 17 | $10.0M |
| Heavy Snow | 1,190 | 9 | 14 | $1.0M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1,455
Total Paid
$36.3M
Avg Per Claim
$24.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 67.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$26.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Winter Weather Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Drought Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Lightning Very Low
Earthquake 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: Winter Weather
Winter Weather in the model means the accumulation of snow and cold that disrupts rather than destroys: road closures, roof loads, burst pipes and lost heating. Its costs land heavily on transport and on households least able to absorb an interruption.
Worth noting for Polk County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Winter Weather carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively 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
Polk County's closest FEMA peer: Ste. Genevieve County, MO
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Polk County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Polk County shows 31 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Polk County: 26 of 31 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Polk County: NRI composite 67.0 (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 Polk County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Polk 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: 67.0 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 31. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Polk County's NFIP claims file (1,455 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 Polk County?
The most common disaster type in Polk County is Flood, with 17 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (8), Biological (2), Tornado (1).
How does Polk County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Minnesota average?
FEMA lists 31 declaration records for Polk County. That is 75% above the Minnesota county mean of 17.7. Its count is also 50% 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 Polk County received?
Polk County has received 26 major disaster declarations, representing 84% of all 31 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Polk County filed?
Polk County has 1,455 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $36.3M in payments, with an average of $24.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Polk County?
No. In Polk County, Winter Weather has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $13.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Polk County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Polk County was 2010, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2022.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Polk County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Polk County, Minnesota has an overall risk score of 67.0 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $26.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Polk County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Polk County is Winter Weather (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively High) and Drought (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts winter weather here at an average of 23 times per year, drawn from 430 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Polk County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Minnesota profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events