FEMA Records
44
Very high volume
Oklahoma · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Pottawatomie County, OK
44 FEMA disaster declarations (1971-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 44
- FEMA declarations
- 30
- Major disasters
- 82
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Pottawatomie County. Its 44 FEMA declarations are 37% above the Oklahoma county mean and exceed the count for 98% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 18%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 18%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 44
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 153
- 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.
How does Pottawatomie County compare?
Pottawatomie County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
44 Top 2% higher than 98% 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 · 2026-08-03
Pottawatomie County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Oklahoma county average
What does Pottawatomie County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 153 paid claims, totaling $2.4M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $15.4K 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. Pottawatomie County's 44 federal records stand 37% above the Oklahoma county mean of 32.2. 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 82.3/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $36.7M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Tornado stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 1 years here, based on 64 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 44 entries for Pottawatomie County, including 30 Major Disaster records, 37% above the Oklahoma county mean. Across the 54-year span, that works out to 0.8 declarations a year. Severe Storm leads the file with 16 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
82 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Pottawatomie County, OK · 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) Very High
30/30
44 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (2.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
17/25
44 declarations (1.4x state county average of 32)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
30 of 44 declarations are major disasters (68%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Pottawatomie County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Oklahoma Avg
+37%
State avg: 32.2
vs. National Avg
+112%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.8
Over 54 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Pottawatomie 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
68%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
82
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Pottawatomie 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Ice Storm | Very High | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively High | an average of 11 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 19 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 149 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 8.6 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 30 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 53 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 5.3 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 704 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 115 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 16
Severe Ice Storm 10
Fire 7
Tornado 5
Flood 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Pottawatomie County's record, 36% 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 - 30 68.2%
of all 44 declarations
Emergency - 8 18.2%
of all 44 declarations
Fire Management - 6 13.6%
of all 44 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 4 | |
| 2010 | 4 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 5 | |
| 2006 | 2 | |
Show 12 earlier declaration years
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 44 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 44 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5563 | EAST THUNDERBIRD FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-03-15 |
| 5565 | CLEAR POND FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-03-15 |
| 4776 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2024-04-30 |
| 4706 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 2023-04-24 |
| 4657 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2022-06-29 |
| 4587 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-24 |
| 3555 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-17 |
| 4575 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2020-12-21 |
| 4530 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3462 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4438 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-06-01 |
| 5230 | SHUMACH FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2018-03-16 |
| 4222 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-26 |
| 4117 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2013-05-20 |
| 2953 | TWIN LAKES FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2011-08-31 |
| 1985 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-05-13 |
| 2872 | SHAWNEE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2011-03-12 |
| 3316 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-02-02 |
| 1917 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-05-24 |
| 1883 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2010-03-05 |
Show 24 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1876 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-02-25 |
| 3308 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2010-01-30 |
| 1735 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-12-18 |
| 3280 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-12-10 |
| 1718 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-08-24 |
| 1712 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-07-07 |
| 1707 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-06-07 |
| 1678 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-02-01 |
| 3272 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-01-14 |
| 1623 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-10 |
| 2602 | BETHEL ACRES FIRE | FM | Fire | 2006-01-02 |
| 3219 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1465 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-05-10 |
| 1401 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2002-02-01 |
| 1355 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2001-01-05 |
| 3158 | SEVERE WINTER AND ICE STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2000-12-28 |
| 1272 | OK, TORNADOES 5/3/99 | DR | Tornado | 1999-05-04 |
| 1058 | TORNADOES, SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1995-06-26 |
| 991 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1993-05-12 |
| 866 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-05-18 |
| 778 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-10-14 |
| 693 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1983-10-26 |
| 441 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-06-10 |
| 297 | HEAVY RAINS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1970-10-14 |
Storm Events in Oklahoma
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Pottawatomie County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 5,894 | 0 | 1 | $19.8M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,592 | 6 | 36 | $199.5M |
| Drought | 2,935 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heat | 2,134 | 7 | 428 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 1,771 | 2 | 401 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
153
Total Paid
$2.4M
Avg Per Claim
$15.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 82.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$36.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Tornado Relatively High
Ice Storm Very High
Hail Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Tornado
Tornado exposure is the most spatially concentrated in the model: total destruction along a narrow corridor with intact property either side. County-level averages therefore understate severity badly for anyone actually in the path, and overstate it for everyone else.
For Pottawatomie County the two measures on this page point the same way: Tornado 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
Pottawatomie County's closest FEMA peer: Volusia County, FL
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Pottawatomie County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Pottawatomie County shows 44 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Pottawatomie County: 30 of 44 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Pottawatomie County: NRI composite 82.3 (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 Pottawatomie County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Pottawatomie County's NFIP claims file (153 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Pottawatomie County?
The most common disaster type in Pottawatomie County is Severe Storm, with 16 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Ice Storm (10), Fire (7), Tornado (5).
How does Pottawatomie County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Oklahoma average?
FEMA lists 44 declaration records for Pottawatomie County. That is 37% above the Oklahoma county mean of 32.2. Its count is also 112% 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 Pottawatomie County received?
Pottawatomie County has received 30 major disaster declarations, representing 68% of all 44 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Pottawatomie County filed?
Pottawatomie County has 153 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $2.4M in payments, with an average of $15.4K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Pottawatomie County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Pottawatomie County was 2007, with 5 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1971 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Pottawatomie County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma has an overall risk score of 82.3 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively High; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $36.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Pottawatomie County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Pottawatomie County as of the latest release is Tornado (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Ice Storm (Very High) and Hail (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts tornado here at roughly once every 1 years, drawn from 64 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.
What this means for Pottawatomie County
Pottawatomie County, OK has 44 federal declaration records, 37% more than the Oklahoma county mean of 32; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 30 of 44 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Oklahoma overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Oklahoma mean and the totals for 98% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- Use the data guide to separate this mid-volume insurance-claims file from declaration counts and modeled NRI risk. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.