FEMA Records
23
Above median
California · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Sacramento County, CA
23 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 23
- FEMA declarations
- 17
- Major disasters
- 98
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Sacramento County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 23 declarations, more than 62% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 19% below the California county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 2%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 2%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 23
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 3,863
- 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 06067 · Sacramento County 23 declarations · rank 1118/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 23
- MAJOR-MID 74%
- RANK-LOWER #1,118
- PHOTO-FINISH Roanoke
- NRI-HIGH 98
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-BELOW -19%
Nearest declaration peer: Roanoke, VA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · California state profile
Sacramento County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Sacramento County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Amherst · near 23
Amherst · near
23 declarations
- Roanoke · near 23
Roanoke · near
23 declarations
- Sacramento · this county 23
Sacramento · this county
23 declarations
- Vance · near 23
Vance · near
23 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Sacramento County carries 23 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1118 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Sacramento County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Sacramento County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Sacramento County
23 Top 38% higher than 62% 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
Sacramento County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Sacramento County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $215.7M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very Low), while Drought 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 Sacramento County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 3,863 claims and $38.7M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $10.0K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
Start with the state benchmark: a California county averages 28.5 federal declaration records, while Sacramento County has 23. 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 98.1/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $352.4M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Drought stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 63 modeled event-days per year here, based on 2,317 historical events on record.
63 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Sacramento County, CA · 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
17/30
23 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
10/25
23 declarations (0.8x state county average of 29)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
17 of 23 declarations are major disasters (74%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Sacramento County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Sacramento 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
74%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
98
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Sacramento 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drought | Relatively High | 63 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively High | roughly once every 8 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 7 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 291 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | an average of 4.1 times per year |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 10,000 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 8 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 8.1 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | roughly once every 14 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 30 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 17 years |
| Coastal Flooding | No Rating | 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
Flood 9
Severe Storm 7
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 2
Hurricane 1
Earthquake 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Sacramento County's record, 39% of its declarations. Federal flood declarations cover two mechanisms that behave very differently: riverine flooding, which builds over days as a watershed drains and is usually forecast well in advance, and flash flooding, which can arrive in under an hour from rainfall that fell somewhere upstream.
Flood is also the one hazard class where a second federal dataset exists for the same events. The National Flood Insurance Program records what was actually paid on insured losses, so it measures a narrower thing than the declaration count: uninsured damage, and flooding outside mapped special flood hazard areas, never enters it. Reading the two together is more informative than either alone.
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 - 17 73.9%
of all 23 declarations
Emergency - 6 26.1%
of all 23 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 3 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 2 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
Show 1 earlier declaration years
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 23 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 23 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4699 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-04-03 |
| 3592 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2023-03-10 |
| 4683 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2023-01-14 |
| 3591 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2023-01-09 |
| 4482 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-22 |
| 3428 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4308 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2017-04-01 |
| 4305 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2017-03-16 |
| 4301 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2017-02-14 |
| 1628 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUDSLIDES, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-02-03 |
| 3248 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1203 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-02-09 |
| 1155 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUD AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-04 |
| 1046 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING LANDSLIDES, MUD FLOW | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-03-12 |
| 1044 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, MUD FLOWS | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-01-10 |
| 845 | LOMA PRIETA EARTHQUAKE | DR | Earthquake | 1989-10-18 |
| 758 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-02-21 |
| 677 | COASTAL STORMS, FLOODS, SLIDES & TORNADOES | DR | Coastal Storm | 1983-02-09 |
| 3078 | TORRENTIAL RAIN, HIGH TIDE & WINDS | EM | Coastal Storm | 1980-02-01 |
| 3023 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-20 |
Show 3 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 342 | FLOODING CAUSED BY LEVEE BREAK | DR | Flood | 1972-06-27 |
| 253 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-01-26 |
| 183 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1964-12-24 |
Storm Events in California
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Sacramento County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind | 4,070 | 13 | 27 | $228.2M |
| Flood | 3,132 | 26 | 25 | $985.1M |
| Heavy Snow | 1,814 | 6 | 0 | $1.6M |
| Dense Fog | 1,605 | 52 | 148 | $2.8M |
| Drought | 1,421 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
3,863
Total Paid
$38.7M
Avg Per Claim
$10.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 98.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$352.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Coastal Flooding No Rating
Cold Wave 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: Drought
Drought is the slowest of the modeled hazards and the least visible: it does its damage to agriculture, water supply and soil over seasons rather than hours, so it rarely produces the kind of single-day damage that drives a disaster declaration. FEMA scores it in event-days per year rather than discrete events for exactly that reason.
Worth noting for Sacramento County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Flood. 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
Sacramento County's closest FEMA peer: Bates County, MO
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Sacramento County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Sacramento County shows 23 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Sacramento County: 17 of 23 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Sacramento County: NRI composite 98.1 (Relatively High).
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 Sacramento County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Sacramento 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: 98.1 (Relatively High).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 23. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Sacramento County's NFIP claims file (3,863 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 Sacramento County?
The most common disaster type in Sacramento County is Flood, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (7), Biological (2), Coastal Storm (2).
How does Sacramento County's FEMA declaration record compare with the California average?
The typical California county has 28.5 FEMA declaration records; Sacramento County has 23, or 19% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 11% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Sacramento County received?
Sacramento County has received 17 major disaster declarations, representing 74% of all 23 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Sacramento County filed?
Sacramento County has 3,863 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $38.7M in payments, with an average of $10.0K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Sacramento County?
No. In Sacramento County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $215.7M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Sacramento County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Sacramento County was 2023, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Sacramento County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Sacramento County, California has an overall risk score of 98.1 out of 100 (Relatively High). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Low and community resilience is Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $352.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Sacramento County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Sacramento County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Riverine Flooding (Relatively High) and Earthquake (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 63 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 2,317 historical events on record. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Sacramento County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · California profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events