FEMA Records
25
High volume
Kentucky · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Pulaski County, KY
25 FEMA disaster declarations (1971-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 25
- FEMA declarations
- 19
- Major disasters
- 79
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Pulaski County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 25 declarations, more than 71% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 11% below the Kentucky county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 21%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 21%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 25
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 29
- 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 21199 · Pulaski County 25 declarations · rank 821/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 25
- MAJOR-MID 76%
- RANK-LOWER #821
- PHOTO-FINISH Jefferson
- NRI-LOW 79
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-BELOW -11%
Nearest declaration peer: Jefferson, AR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Kentucky state profile
Pulaski County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Pulaski County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Benton · near 25
Benton · near
25 declarations
- Jefferson · near 25
Jefferson · near
25 declarations
- Lafayette · near 25
Lafayette · near
25 declarations
- Pulaski · this county 25
Pulaski · this county
25 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Pulaski County carries 25 FEMA declaration records, ranked 821 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Pulaski County ranks in the national declaration registry
Pulaski County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Pulaski County
25 Top 29% higher than 71% 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
Pulaski County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Pulaski County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $16.9M 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 Pulaski County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 79.1/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $32.1M 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, Winter Weather stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 12 times per year here, based on 228 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 29 claims and $817.7K 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 Kentucky county averages 28.1 federal declaration records, while Pulaski County has 25. The gap is 11% 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.
68 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Pulaski County, KY · 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
18/30
25 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.2x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
11/25
25 declarations (0.9x state county average of 28)
Major Disaster Share Very High
19/25
19 of 25 declarations are major disasters (76%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Pulaski County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Pulaski 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
76%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
79
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Pulaski 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 12 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.2 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 6 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 445 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.3 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 55 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 2.9 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 959 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 33 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 7.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 11
Snowstorm 3
Tornado 3
Winter Storm 2
Flood 2
Biological 2
Severe Ice Storm 1
Hurricane 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Pulaski County's record, 44% 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 - 19 76.0%
of all 25 declarations
Emergency - 6 24.0%
of all 25 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |
| 2025 | 4 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 4 earlier declaration years
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 25 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 25 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4913 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Winter Storm | 2026-05-29 |
| 3633 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 4875 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2025-05-23 |
| 3626 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Storm | 2025-04-03 |
| 4860 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2025-02-24 |
| 3624 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | EM | Severe Storm | 2025-02-16 |
| 4804 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-07-23 |
| 4702 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-04-10 |
| 4595 | SEVERE, STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2021-04-23 |
| 4592 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-03-31 |
| 4497 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-28 |
| 3469 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 1912 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-05-11 |
| 3231 | HURRICANE KATRINA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1523 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-06-10 |
| 1414 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-05-07 |
| 1207 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-03-03 |
| 1089 | BLIZZARD OF 96 | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-13 |
| 1055 | TORNADOES, SEVERE WINDS, HAIL | DR | Tornado | 1995-06-13 |
| 1018 | SEVERE WEATHER, FREEZING RAIN, SLEET, SNW | DR | Snowstorm | 1994-03-16 |
Show 5 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3104 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-16 |
| 705 | HIGH WINDS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1984-05-15 |
| 461 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-03-29 |
| 420 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1974-04-04 |
| 305 | TORNADO | DR | Tornado | 1971-05-10 |
Storm Events in Kentucky
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Pulaski County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 6,702 | 9 | 56 | $55.2M |
| Flash Flood | 1,757 | 65 | 16 | $42.6M |
| Flood | 1,646 | 31 | 6 | $37.1M |
| Hail | 1,534 | 1 | 0 | $4.7M |
| Winter Weather | 1,079 | 14 | 54 | $655.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
29
Total Paid
$817.7K
Avg Per Claim
$28.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 79.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$32.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Winter Weather Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Landslide Relatively Low
Wildfire Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Avalanche 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 Pulaski 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 Severe Storm. 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
Pulaski County's closest FEMA peer: Allegany County, NY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Pulaski County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Pulaski County shows 25 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Pulaski County: 19 of 25 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Pulaski County: NRI composite 79.1 (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 Pulaski County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Pulaski 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: 79.1 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 25. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 25 FEMA declarations, Pulaski County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
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 Pulaski County?
The most common disaster type in Pulaski County is Severe Storm, with 11 declarations. Other disaster types include Snowstorm (3), Tornado (3), Winter Storm (2).
How does Pulaski County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Kentucky average?
The typical Kentucky county has 28.1 FEMA declaration records; Pulaski County has 25, or 11% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 21% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Pulaski County received?
Pulaski County has received 19 major disaster declarations, representing 76% of all 25 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Pulaski County filed?
Pulaski County has 29 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $817.7K in payments, with an average of $28.2K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Pulaski County?
No. In Pulaski County, Winter Weather has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $16.9M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Pulaski County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Pulaski County was 2025, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1971 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Pulaski County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Pulaski County, Kentucky has an overall risk score of 79.1 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively High and community resilience is Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $32.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Pulaski County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Pulaski County is Winter Weather (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hail (Relatively Moderate) and Cold Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts winter weather here at an average of 12 times per year, drawn from 228 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Pulaski County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Kentucky profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events