FEMA Records
17
Below median
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Rains County, TX
17 FEMA disaster declarations (1966-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Ice Storm.
- 17
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 14
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Severe Ice Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Rains County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 17 declarations, more than 32% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 19% below the Texas county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 14%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 14%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 17
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 8
- 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 48379 · Rains County 17 declarations · rank 2081/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 17
- MAJOR-MID 65%
- RANK-LOWER #2,081
- PHOTO-FINISH Curry
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Ice S…
- VS-ST-BELOW -19%
Nearest declaration peer: Curry, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
Rains County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Rains County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Curry · near 17
Curry · near
17 declarations
- Murray · near 17
Murray · near
17 declarations
- Rains · this county 17
Rains · this county
17 declarations
- Washington · near 17
Washington · near
17 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Rains County carries 17 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2081 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Rains County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Rains County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Rains County
17 32nd percentile higher than 32% 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
Rains County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Rains County is led by Tornado (about $1.9M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), while Ice Storm 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 Rains County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's National Risk Index places this county in the low end of the national distribution, composite score 14.1/100 (Very Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $5.6M in annualized losses). Two modifiers shape how that exposure becomes real-world harm here: social vulnerability (Relatively Moderate) and community resilience (Relatively Low). Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Ice Storm stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1.1 times per year here, based on 74 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 8 claims and $254.9K 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 Texas county averages 20.9 federal declaration records, while Rains County has 17. The gap is 19% 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.
53 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Rains County, TX · 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) Moderate
12/30
17 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.8x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
10/25
17 declarations (0.8x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
16/25
11 of 17 declarations are major disasters (65%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Rains County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Rains 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
65%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
14
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Rains 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 31 modeled event-days per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 16 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 5.8 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 880 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 84 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 4.2 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 57 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 982 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 3.3 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 29 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 3
Severe Ice Storm 3
Severe Storm 3
Fire 3
Hurricane 3
Biological 2
What Severe Ice Storm declarations mean here
Severe Ice Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Rains County's record, 18% of its declarations. Ice storms damage differently from snowstorms: accumulating freezing rain loads power lines and tree limbs until they fail, so the dominant cost is usually infrastructure and extended power loss rather than structural damage to buildings. Outages measured in days, not hours, are the characteristic consequence, which is why these declarations frequently authorise emergency protective measures and debris removal.
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 - 11 64.7%
of all 17 declarations
Emergency - 6 35.3%
of all 17 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1966 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 17 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 17 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4781 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2024-05-17 |
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 4485 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3458 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4255 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-02-09 |
| 3284 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-03-14 |
| 1624 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-11 |
| 1606 | HURRICANE RITA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-09-24 |
| 3261 | HURRICANE RITA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-21 |
| 3216 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-02 |
| 1356 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2001-01-08 |
| 3142 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARDS | EM | Fire | 1999-09-01 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 863 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-05-02 |
| 320 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-01-27 |
| 218 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1966-05-12 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Rains County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 14,072 | 0 | 15 | $7.4B |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 10,293 | 41 | 141 | $369.9M |
| Drought | 7,032 | 0 | 0 | $86.0K |
| Flash Flood | 4,728 | 338 | 24 | $47.6B |
| Heat | 4,079 | 119 | 405 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
8
Total Paid
$254.9K
Avg Per Claim
$31.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 14.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$5.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Ice Storm Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Riverine Flooding 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: Ice Storm
Ice storms load power lines and tree limbs with accumulating freezing rain until they fail. The characteristic cost is infrastructure and multi-day power loss across a wide area rather than structural damage to buildings, which is why their consequences often outlast the weather that caused them.
For Rains County the two measures on this page point the same way: Ice Storm is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Severe Ice 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
Rains County's closest FEMA peer: Fairfax (city), VA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Rains County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Rains County shows 17 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Ice Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Rains County: 11 of 17 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Rains County: NRI composite 14.1 (Very 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 Rains County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Rains 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: 14.1 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 17. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 17 FEMA declarations, Rains 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 Rains County?
The most common disaster type in Rains County is Severe Ice Storm, with 3 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (3), Severe Storm (3), Fire (3).
How does Rains County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
The typical Texas county has 20.9 FEMA declaration records; Rains County has 17, or 19% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 18% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Rains County received?
Rains County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 65% of all 17 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Rains County filed?
Rains County has 8 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $254.9K in payments, with an average of $31.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Rains County?
No. In Rains County, Ice Storm has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Tornado leads Expected Annual Loss at about $1.9M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Rains County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Rains County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1966 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Rains County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Rains County, Texas has an overall risk score of 14.1 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $5.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Rains County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Rains County as of the latest release is Ice Storm (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Tornado (Relatively Low) and Drought (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts ice storm here at an average of 1.1 times per year, drawn from 74 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 Rains County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events