FEMA Records
14
Low volume
Nebraska · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Red Willow County, NE
14 FEMA disaster declarations (1990-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 14
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 20
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Red Willow County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 14 declarations, more than 20% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 17% below the Nebraska county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 20%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 20%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 14
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 15
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 31145 · Red Willow County 14 declarations · rank 2549/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 14
- MAJOR-MID 79%
- RANK-LOWER #2,549
- PHOTO-FINISH Pulaski
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-BELOW -17%
Nearest declaration peer: Pulaski, IL (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Nebraska state profile
Red Willow County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Red Willow County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Franklin (city) · near 14
Franklin (city) · near
14 declarations
- Harris · near 14
Harris · near
14 declarations
- Pulaski · near 14
Pulaski · near
14 declarations
- Red Willow · this county 14
Red Willow · this county
14 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Red Willow County carries 14 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2549 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Red Willow County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Red Willow County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Red Willow County
14 20th percentile higher than 20% 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
Red Willow County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Red Willow County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county's FEMA National Risk Index composite lands at 20.3/100 (Very Low), a modest reading against the rest of the country. Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $8.2M in annualized losses), tempered or compounded by a Relatively Low social-vulnerability score and Relatively Moderate community-resilience score. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Hail carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 8 times per year here, based on 303 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 15 claims and $60.1K 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 Nebraska county averages 16.8 federal declaration records, while Red Willow County has 14. The gap is 17% 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
Red Willow County, NE · 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
10/30
14 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
10/25
14 declarations (0.8x state county average of 17)
Major Disaster Share Very High
20/25
11 of 14 declarations are major disasters (79%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Red Willow County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Red Willow 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
79%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
20
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Red Willow 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 Moderate | an average of 8 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 98 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 12 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.1 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 5.4 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 43 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 3.8 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 3,758 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 3,195 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 9
Biological 2
Fire 1
Hurricane 1
Snowstorm 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Red Willow County's record, 64% 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 - 11 78.6%
of all 14 declarations
Emergency - 2 14.3%
of all 14 declarations
Fire Management - 1 7.1%
of all 14 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 14 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 14 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4808 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-08-20 |
| 5436 | ROAD 702 FIRE | FM | Fire | 2022-04-23 |
| 4521 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3483 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4321 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2017-06-26 |
| 4014 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-08-12 |
| 1770 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-06-20 |
| 1674 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-01-07 |
| 1627 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-01-26 |
| 3245 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUEES | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1517 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-05-25 |
| 1190 | SEVERE SNOW STORMS, RAIN, AND STRONG WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-11-01 |
| 1027 | SEVERE SNOW AND ICE STORM | DR | Snowstorm | 1994-05-09 |
| 873 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-07-04 |
Storm Events in Nebraska
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Red Willow County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 6,079 | 0 | 2 | $237.7M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 4,757 | 3 | 19 | $228.1M |
| Drought | 1,658 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 1,647 | 1 | 1 | $22.1M |
| Winter Storm | 1,155 | 0 | 2 | $335.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
15
Total Paid
$60.1K
Avg Per Claim
$4.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 20.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$8.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Riverine Flooding 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: 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 Red Willow County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hail is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), 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
Red Willow County's closest FEMA peer: Hyde County, SD
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Red Willow County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Red Willow County shows 14 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Red Willow County: 11 of 14 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Red Willow County: NRI composite 20.3 (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 Red Willow County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Red Willow 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: 20.3 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 14. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 14 FEMA declarations, Red Willow 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 Red Willow County?
The most common disaster type in Red Willow County is Severe Storm, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Fire (1), Hurricane (1).
How does Red Willow County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Nebraska average?
The typical Nebraska county has 16.8 FEMA declaration records; Red Willow County has 14, or 17% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 32% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Red Willow County received?
Red Willow County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 79% of all 14 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Red Willow County filed?
Red Willow County has 15 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $60.1K in payments, with an average of $4.0K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Red Willow County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Red Willow County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1990 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Red Willow County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Red Willow County, Nebraska has an overall risk score of 20.3 out of 100 (Very Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Low, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $8.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Red Willow County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Red Willow County is Hail (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Drought (Relatively Moderate) and Winter Weather (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 8 times per year, drawn from 303 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 Red Willow County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Nebraska profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events