FEMA Records
12
Low volume
Utah · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Salt Lake County, UT
12 FEMA disaster declarations (1983-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 12
- FEMA declarations
- 7
- Major disasters
- 99
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Salt Lake County. Its 12 FEMA declarations are 41% above the Utah county mean and exceed the count for 14% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 1%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 1%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 12
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 403
- 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 49035 · Salt Lake County 12 declarations · rank 2745/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-MID 12
- MAJOR-MID 58%
- RANK-LOWER #2,745
- PHOTO-FINISH Johnson
- NRI-HIGH 99
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-ABOVE +41%
Nearest declaration peer: Johnson, KS (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Utah state profile
Salt Lake County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Salt Lake County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Crane · near 12
Crane · near
12 declarations
- Johnson · near 12
Johnson · near
12 declarations
- Salt Lake · this county 12
Salt Lake · this county
12 declarations
- Seward · near 12
Seward · near
12 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Salt Lake County carries 12 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2745 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Salt Lake County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Salt Lake County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Salt Lake County
12 14th percentile higher than 14% 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
Salt Lake County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Salt Lake County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 403 paid claims, totaling $1.7M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $4.2K 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. Salt Lake County's 12 federal records stand 41% above the Utah county mean of 8.5. 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 sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 98.6/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $621.7M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very Low and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Earthquake stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 66 years here.
60 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Salt Lake County, UT · 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
9/30
12 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.6x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
18/25
12 declarations (1.4x state county average of 8)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
7 of 12 declarations are major disasters (58%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Salt Lake County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Salt Lake 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
58%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
99
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Salt Lake 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | Relatively High | roughly once every 66 years |
| Avalanche | Very High | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very High | an average of 28 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 153 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 39 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 2.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 10,000 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 20 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 49 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 18 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 3
Flood 3
Biological 2
Severe Storm 1
Earthquake 1
Coastal Storm 1
Tornado 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Salt Lake County's record, 25% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
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 - 7 58.3%
of all 12 declarations
Fire Management - 3 25.0%
of all 12 declarations
Emergency - 2 16.7%
of all 12 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 12 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 12 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5408 | PARLEYS CANYON FIRE | FM | Fire | 2021-08-14 |
| 4578 | STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2021-01-12 |
| 4548 | EARTHQUAKE AND AFTERSHOCKS | DR | Earthquake | 2020-07-09 |
| 4525 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3478 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 2991 | ROSE CREST FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-06-29 |
| 4011 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-08-08 |
| 2859 | MACHINE GUN FIRE | FM | Fire | 2010-09-19 |
| 3223 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-05 |
| 1285 | TORNADO, SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS, AND HAIL | DR | Tornado | 1999-08-16 |
| 720 | SEVERE STORMS, MUDSLIDES, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-08-17 |
| 680 | SEVERE STORMS, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1983-04-30 |
Storm Events in Utah
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Salt Lake County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,382 | 3 | 7 | $2.2M |
| Flash Flood | 536 | 29 | 17 | $101.2M |
| High Wind | 496 | 4 | 60 | $12.7M |
| Heavy Snow | 488 | 1 | 2 | $2.4M |
| Winter Storm | 344 | 1 | 36 | $435.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
403
Total Paid
$1.7M
Avg Per Claim
$4.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 98.6/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$621.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Earthquake Relatively High
Avalanche Very High
Winter Weather Very High
Wildfire Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Coastal Flooding 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: Earthquake
Earthquake is the model's clearest example of a hazard with no season and no warning. Its expected loss is driven less by how often shaking occurs than by how much of the building stock predates modern seismic codes, so exposure can be high in places where nothing has happened for a long time.
Worth noting for Salt Lake County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Earthquake carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Fire. 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
Salt Lake County's closest FEMA peer: Pierce County, WA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Salt Lake County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Salt Lake County: NRI composite 98.6 (Relatively High).
Similar Major-disaster share
Salt Lake County: 7 of 12 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Salt Lake County shows 12 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
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 Salt Lake County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Salt Lake 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: 98.6 (Relatively High).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 12. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Salt Lake County's NFIP claims file (403 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 Salt Lake County?
The most common disaster type in Salt Lake County is Fire, with 3 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (3), Biological (2), Severe Storm (1).
How does Salt Lake County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Utah average?
FEMA lists 12 declaration records for Salt Lake County. That is 41% above the Utah county mean of 8.5. Its count is also 42% 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 Salt Lake County received?
Salt Lake County has received 7 major disaster declarations, representing 58% of all 12 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Salt Lake County filed?
Salt Lake County has 403 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.7M in payments, with an average of $4.2K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Salt Lake County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Salt Lake County was 2020, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1983 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Salt Lake County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Salt Lake County, Utah has an overall risk score of 98.6 out of 100 (Relatively High). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very Low and community resilience is Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $621.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Salt Lake County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Salt Lake County as of the latest release is Earthquake (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Avalanche (Very High) and Winter Weather (Very High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts earthquake here at roughly once every 66 years. 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 Salt Lake County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Utah profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events