FEMA Records
26
High volume
Iowa · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Pottawattamie County, IA
26 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 26
- FEMA declarations
- 23
- Major disasters
- 80
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Pottawattamie County. Its 26 FEMA declarations are 35% above the Iowa county mean and exceed the count for 75% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 20%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 20%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 26
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 867
- 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.
How does Pottawattamie County compare?
Pottawattamie County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
26 Top 25% higher than 75% 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
Pottawattamie County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Iowa county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Pottawattamie County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $18.3M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), 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 Pottawattamie County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 867 claims and $11.1M 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 $12.7K. 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. Pottawattamie County's 26 federal records stand 35% above the Iowa county mean of 19.3. 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 80.4/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $49.6M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. 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 6.6 times per year here, based on 251 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 26 entries for Pottawattamie County, including 23 Major Disaster records, 35% above the Iowa county mean. Across the 59-year span, that works out to 0.4 declarations a year. Severe Storm leads the file with 12 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
73 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Pottawattamie County, IA · 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
19/30
26 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
17/25
26 declarations (1.3x state county average of 19)
Major Disaster Share Very High
22/25
23 of 26 declarations are major disasters (88%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Pottawattamie County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Iowa Avg
+35%
State avg: 19.3
vs. National Avg
+25%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.4
Over 59 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Pottawattamie 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
88%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
80
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Pottawattamie 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 6.6 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 4.6 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 10 modeled event-days per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 7.8 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 14 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 5.2 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 46 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1,012 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,669 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 12
Flood 7
Tornado 2
Biological 2
Snowstorm 2
Hurricane 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Pottawattamie County's record, 46% 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 - 23 88.5%
of all 26 declarations
Emergency - 3 11.5%
of all 26 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 5 earlier declaration years
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1988 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 26 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 26 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4796 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-06-24 |
| 4784 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-05-24 |
| 4779 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 2024-05-14 |
| 4483 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-23 |
| 3480 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4421 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-03-23 |
| 4181 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-07-14 |
| 1998 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-06-27 |
| 1880 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-03-02 |
| 1877 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-02-25 |
| 1763 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-05-27 |
| 1705 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-05-25 |
| 3275 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2007-03-30 |
| 3239 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1518 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-05-25 |
| 1367 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-05-02 |
| 1282 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-07-22 |
| 1230 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1998-07-02 |
| 1191 | SEVERE SNOWSTORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 1997-11-20 |
| 1133 | SEVERE STORMS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-08-21 |
Show 6 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 996 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-07-09 |
| 879 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-09-06 |
| 814 | RAIN, WINDS, & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1988-07-28 |
| 715 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, HAIL & FLOODS | DR | Severe Storm | 1984-06-27 |
| 354 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-09-26 |
| 193 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1965-04-22 |
Storm Events in Iowa
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Pottawattamie County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 4,928 | 6 | 227 | $40.5M |
| Hail | 3,736 | 0 | 0 | $4.3M |
| Heavy Rain | 2,394 | 0 | 0 | $292.0K |
| Drought | 1,556 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 1,543 | 3 | 4 | $2.8M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
867
Total Paid
$11.1M
Avg Per Claim
$12.7K
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 Low
Score: 80.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$49.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Relatively High
Strong Wind Relatively High
Tornado Relatively High
Landslide Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Hurricane No Rating
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: 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 Pottawattamie 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
Pottawattamie County's closest FEMA peer: Turner County, SD
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Pottawattamie County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Pottawattamie County shows 26 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Pottawattamie County: 23 of 26 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Pottawattamie County: NRI composite 80.4 (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 Pottawattamie County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Pottawattamie County's NFIP claims file (867 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 Pottawattamie County?
The most common disaster type in Pottawattamie County is Severe Storm, with 12 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (7), Tornado (2), Biological (2).
How does Pottawattamie County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Iowa average?
FEMA lists 26 declaration records for Pottawattamie County. That is 35% above the Iowa county mean of 19.3. Its count is also 25% 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 Pottawattamie County received?
Pottawattamie County has received 23 major disaster declarations, representing 88% of all 26 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Pottawattamie County filed?
Pottawattamie County has 867 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $11.1M in payments, with an average of $12.7K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Pottawattamie County?
No. In Pottawattamie County, Hail has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $18.3M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Pottawattamie County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Pottawattamie County was 2024, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Pottawattamie County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Pottawattamie County, Iowa has an overall risk score of 80.4 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 $49.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Pottawattamie County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Pottawattamie 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 6.6 times per year, drawn from 251 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 Pottawattamie County
Pottawattamie County, IA has 26 federal declaration records, 35% more than the Iowa county mean of 19; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 23 of 26 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Iowa overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Iowa mean and the totals for 75% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- The large NFIP claims file and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records; the guide explains where they overlap and where they do not. 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.