FEMA Records
25
High volume
North Carolina · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Rockingham County, NC
25 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 25
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 72
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Rockingham County. Its 25 FEMA declarations are 4% above the North Carolina county mean and exceed the count for 71% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 28%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 28%
- 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
- 108
- 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 Rockingham County compare?
Rockingham County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
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 · 2026-08-03
Rockingham County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the North Carolina county average
What does Rockingham County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 108 paid claims, totaling $725.3K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $6.7K 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. Rockingham County's 25 federal records stand 4% above the North Carolina county mean of 24.0. 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, 71.9/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $25.1M in annualized losses), and a Relatively High social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Riverine Flooding carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1.9 times per year here, based on 53 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 25 entries for Rockingham County, including 11 Major Disaster records, 4% above the North Carolina county mean. Across the 49-year span, that works out to 0.5 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 11 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
62 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Rockingham County, NC · 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 High
13/25
25 declarations (1.0x state county average of 24)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
11/25
11 of 25 declarations are major disasters (44%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Rockingham County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. North Carolina Avg
+4%
State avg: 24.0
vs. National Avg
+21%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.5
Over 49 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Rockingham 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
44%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
72
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Rockingham 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 46 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 6.8 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 750 years |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 16 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 4.8 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 1.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 13,691 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 11
Snowstorm 4
Severe Storm 3
Tropical Storm 2
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Severe Ice Storm 1
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Rockingham County's federal record, 44% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
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).
Emergency - 14 56.0%
of all 25 declarations
Major Disaster - 11 44.0%
of all 25 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2019 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 3 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 1 earlier declaration years
| 1977 | 2 | |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3637 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 3617 | HURRICANE HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-26 |
| 3608 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-06 |
| 3586 | HURRICANE IAN | EM | Hurricane | 2022-10-01 |
| 3534 | HURRICANE ISAIAS | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-02 |
| 4487 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3471 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3423 | HURRICANE DORIAN | EM | Hurricane | 2019-09-03 |
| 4412 | TROPICAL STORM MICHAEL | DR | Hurricane | 2019-01-31 |
| 3401 | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM | Hurricane | 2018-09-10 |
| 4364 | TORNADO AND SEVERE STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2018-05-08 |
| 3380 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | EM | Hurricane | 2016-10-07 |
| 3222 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1553 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-18 |
| 1457 | ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2003-03-27 |
| 1312 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-01-31 |
| 1292 | HURRICANE FLOYD MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS | DR | Hurricane | 1999-09-16 |
| 3146 | HURRICANE FLOYD EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS | EM | Hurricane | 1999-09-15 |
| 1211 | SEVERE STORMS TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-03-22 |
| 1134 | HURRICANE FRAN | DR | Hurricane | 1996-09-06 |
Show 5 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1103 | WINTER STORM | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-02-23 |
| 1087 | BLIZZARD OF 96 | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-13 |
| 3110 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 3049 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-08-11 |
| 3033 | DROUGHT & FREEZING | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-03-02 |
Storm Events in North Carolina
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Rockingham County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 7,123 | 11 | 60 | $62.9M |
| Flash Flood | 1,881 | 105 | 6 | $2.3B |
| Hail | 1,623 | 0 | 0 | $122.5M |
| Winter Weather | 1,272 | 6 | 2 | $425.0K |
| Winter Storm | 743 | 7 | 0 | $10.7M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
108
Total Paid
$725.3K
Avg Per Claim
$6.7K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 71.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$25.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Wildfire 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: Riverine Flooding
Riverine Flooding is the model's measure of a watershed draining more water than its channel can carry. Unlike flash flooding it usually builds over days and is forecast in advance, which makes it the hazard where warning time most reliably converts into reduced harm.
Worth noting for Rockingham County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Riverine Flooding carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. 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
Rockingham County's closest FEMA peer: McLennan County, TX
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Rockingham County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Rockingham County shows 25 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Rockingham County: 11 of 25 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Rockingham County: NRI composite 71.9 (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 Rockingham County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Rockingham County's NFIP claims file (108 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 Rockingham County?
The most common disaster type in Rockingham County is Hurricane, with 11 declarations. Other disaster types include Snowstorm (4), Severe Storm (3), Tropical Storm (2).
How does Rockingham County's FEMA declaration record compare with the North Carolina average?
FEMA lists 25 declaration records for Rockingham County. That is 4% above the North Carolina county mean of 24.0. Its count is also 21% 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 Rockingham County received?
Rockingham County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 44% of all 25 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Rockingham County filed?
Rockingham County has 108 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $725.3K in payments, with an average of $6.7K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Rockingham County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Rockingham County was 1996, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Rockingham County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Rockingham County, North Carolina has an overall risk score of 71.9 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $25.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Rockingham County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Rockingham County as of the latest release is Riverine Flooding (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Ice Storm (Relatively Moderate) and Hurricane (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts riverine flooding here at an average of 1.9 times per year, drawn from 53 historical events on record. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, exposed assets, and community vulnerability.
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 Rockingham County
Rockingham County, NC has 25 federal declaration records, 4% more than the North Carolina county mean of 24; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, emergency leads with 14 of 25 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. North Carolina overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the North Carolina mean and the totals for 71% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- Use the data guide to separate this mid-volume insurance-claims file from declaration counts and modeled NRI risk. 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.