FEMA Records
18
Below median
Ohio · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Richland County, OH
18 FEMA disaster declarations (1969-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 18
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 61
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Richland County. Its 18 FEMA declarations are 23% above the Ohio county mean and exceed the count for 37% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 39%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 39%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 18
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 329
- 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 39139 · Richland County 18 declarations · rank 1999/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-MID 18
- MAJOR-MID 61%
- RANK-LOWER #1,999
- PHOTO-FINISH Monroe
- NRI-LOW 61
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +23%
Nearest declaration peer: Monroe, TN (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Ohio state profile
Richland County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Richland County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Brooke · near 18
Brooke · near
18 declarations
- Mecklenburg · near 18
Mecklenburg · near
18 declarations
- Monroe · near 18
Monroe · near
18 declarations
- Richland · this county 18
Richland · this county
18 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Richland County carries 18 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1999 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Richland County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Richland County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Richland County
18 37th percentile higher than 37% 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
Richland County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Richland County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $14.0M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), 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 Richland County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 329 paid claims, totaling $9.8M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $29.9K 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. Richland County's 18 federal records stand 23% above the Ohio county mean of 14.6. 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 61.3/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $22.3M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Very High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. 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 roughly once every 2 years here, based on 28 historical events on record.
58 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Richland County, OH · 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
13/30
18 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
15/25
18 declarations (1.2x state county average of 15)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
11 of 18 declarations are major disasters (61%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Richland County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Richland 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
61%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
61
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Richland 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 | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.9 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 9.9 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.3 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 41 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 2.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 947 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 125 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 4.3 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 22,406 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 7
Snowstorm 4
Tornado 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Flood 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Richland County's record, 39% 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 61.1%
of all 18 declarations
Emergency - 7 38.9%
of all 18 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2004 | 2 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 18 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 18 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4777 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 2024-05-02 |
| 4507 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-31 |
| 3457 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3346 | SEVERE STORMS | EM | Severe Storm | 2012-06-30 |
| 3286 | RECORD SNOW AND NEAR RECORD SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2008-04-24 |
| 1720 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-08-27 |
| 3250 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1580 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2005-02-15 |
| 3198 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2005-01-11 |
| 1556 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-09-19 |
| 1519 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-06-03 |
| 1484 | TORNADOES, FLOODING, SEVERE STORMS, AND HIGH WINDS | DR | Tornado | 2003-08-01 |
| 1227 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-06-30 |
| 870 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-06-06 |
| 796 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1987-07-17 |
| 3055 | BLIZZARDS & SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1978-01-26 |
| 3029 | SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-02-02 |
| 266 | TORNADOES, SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1969-07-15 |
Storm Events in Ohio
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Richland County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 6,938 | 6 | 39 | $60.4M |
| Winter Weather | 2,101 | 7 | 42 | $3.3M |
| Hail | 1,749 | 0 | 0 | $673.5K |
| Flood | 1,607 | 9 | 0 | $84.5M |
| Flash Flood | 1,089 | 9 | 7 | $112.2M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
329
Total Paid
$9.8M
Avg Per Claim
$29.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 61.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$22.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Ice Storm Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Drought No Rating
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.
Worth noting for Richland County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Ice Storm 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
Richland County's closest FEMA peer: Copiah County, MS
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Richland County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Richland County: NRI composite 61.3 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Richland County: 11 of 18 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Richland County shows 18 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
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 Richland County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Richland 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: 61.3 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 18. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Richland County's NFIP claims file (329 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).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Richland County?
The most common disaster type in Richland County is Severe Storm, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Snowstorm (4), Tornado (3), Biological (2).
How does Richland County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Ohio average?
FEMA lists 18 declaration records for Richland County. That is 23% above the Ohio county mean of 14.6. Its count is also 13% below 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 Richland County received?
Richland County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 61% of all 18 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Richland County filed?
Richland County has 329 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $9.8M in payments, with an average of $29.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Richland County?
No. In Richland County, Ice Storm has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $14.0M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Richland County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Richland County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1969 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Richland County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Richland County, Ohio has an overall risk score of 61.3 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $22.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Richland County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Richland County as of the latest release is Ice Storm (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hail (Relatively Moderate) and Winter Weather (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts ice storm here at roughly once every 2 years, drawn from 28 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 Richland County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Ohio profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events