FEMA Records
32
Very high volume
Kentucky · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Rowan County, KY
32 FEMA disaster declarations (1979-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 32
- FEMA declarations
- 25
- Major disasters
- 48
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Rowan County. Its 32 FEMA declarations are 14% above the Kentucky county mean and exceed the count for 89% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 48%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 48%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 32
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 293
- 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 Rowan County compare?
Rowan County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
32 Top 11% higher than 89% 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
Rowan County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Kentucky county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Rowan County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $9.9M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Landslide carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low). 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 Rowan County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 293 paid claims, totaling $5.1M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $17.5K 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. Rowan County's 32 federal records stand 14% above the Kentucky county mean of 28.1. 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
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 47.9/100 for this county (Relatively Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $12.9M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively High) and community resilience (Relatively Moderate) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Landslide, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 2 years here.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 32 entries for Rowan County, including 25 Major Disaster records, 14% above the Kentucky county mean. Across the 47-year span, that works out to 0.7 declarations a year. Severe Storm leads the file with 16 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
77 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Rowan 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) Very High
23/30
32 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
32 declarations (1.1x state county average of 28)
Major Disaster Share Very High
20/25
25 of 32 declarations are major disasters (78%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
9 different disaster types declared in Rowan County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Kentucky Avg
+14%
State avg: 28.1
vs. National Avg
+54%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.7
Over 47 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Rowan 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
78%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
48
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Rowan 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 50 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 15 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.9 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 2.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,344 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 690 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 43 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 12 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 3.2 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Drought | Very Low | 2.8 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 16
Flood 4
Severe Ice Storm 3
Snowstorm 3
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Tropical Storm 1
Hurricane 1
Tornado 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Rowan County's record, 50% 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 - 25 78.1%
of all 32 declarations
Emergency - 7 21.9%
of all 32 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2025 | 3 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 3 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 3 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
Show 8 earlier declaration years
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 32 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 32 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3633 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 3626 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Storm | 2025-04-03 |
| 3624 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | EM | Severe Storm | 2025-02-16 |
| 4848 | REMNANTS OF HURRICANE HELENE | DR | Tropical Storm | 2024-11-26 |
| 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 |
| 4239 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDE | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-08-12 |
| 4218 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2015-05-12 |
| 4217 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2015-05-01 |
| 4057 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-03-06 |
| 1976 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-05-04 |
| 1925 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-07-23 |
| 1912 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-05-11 |
| 1818 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2009-02-05 |
| 3302 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2009-01-28 |
| 3231 | HURRICANE KATRINA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1523 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-06-10 |
| 1475 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUD AND ROCK SLIDES, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-07-02 |
| 1471 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUD AND ROCK SLIDES, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-06-03 |
Show 12 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1454 | SEVERE WINTER ICE AND SNOW STORMS, HEAVY RAIN, FLOODING, TORNADOES, AND MUD AND | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-03-14 |
| 1407 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-04-04 |
| 1388 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-08-15 |
| 1320 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-02-28 |
| 1207 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-03-03 |
| 1163 | SEVERE STORM, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-03-04 |
| 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 |
| 3104 | SEVERE SNOWFALL & WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-16 |
| 821 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1989-02-24 |
| 568 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1978-12-12 |
Storm Events in Kentucky
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Rowan 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
293
Total Paid
$5.1M
Avg Per Claim
$17.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 47.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$12.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Landslide Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Drought Very 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: Landslide
Landslide risk is a function of slope, soil and water, so it is usually a SECOND-ORDER hazard: it is triggered by the rainfall, snowmelt, wildfire burn scars or seismic shaking that came first. That is why a county can carry high landslide exposure whose realized damage is recorded under a flood or storm declaration instead.
Worth noting for Rowan County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Landslide carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Low), 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
Rowan County's closest FEMA peer: Norman County, MN
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Rowan County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Rowan County shows 32 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Rowan County: 25 of 32 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Rowan County: NRI composite 47.9 (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 Rowan County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Rowan County's NFIP claims file (293 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 Rowan County?
The most common disaster type in Rowan County is Severe Storm, with 16 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (4), Severe Ice Storm (3), Snowstorm (3).
How does Rowan County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Kentucky average?
FEMA lists 32 declaration records for Rowan County. That is 14% above the Kentucky county mean of 28.1. Its count is also 54% 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 Rowan County received?
Rowan County has received 25 major disaster declarations, representing 78% of all 32 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Rowan County filed?
Rowan County has 293 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $5.1M in payments, with an average of $17.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Rowan County?
No. In Rowan County, Landslide has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $9.9M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Rowan County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Rowan County was 2003, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1979 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Rowan County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Rowan County, Kentucky has an overall risk score of 47.9 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively High; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $12.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Rowan County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Rowan County as of the latest release is Landslide (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Relatively Moderate) and Riverine Flooding (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts landslide here at roughly once every 2 years. 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 Rowan County
Rowan County, KY has 32 federal declaration records, 14% more than the Kentucky county mean of 28; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 25 of 32 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Kentucky overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Kentucky mean and the totals for 89% 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.