FEMA Records
21
Above median
New Mexico · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
San Miguel County, NM
21 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 21
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 75
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for San Miguel County. Its 21 FEMA declarations are 69% above the New Mexico county mean and exceed the count for 52% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 25%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 25%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 21
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 138
- 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 35047 · San Miguel County 21 declarations · rank 1460/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-HIGH
- DECL-HEAVY 21
- MAJOR-MID 52%
- RANK-LOWER #1,460
- PHOTO-FINISH Montgomery
- NRI-LOW 75
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-HIGH +69%
Nearest declaration peer: Montgomery, IN (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · New Mexico state profile
San Miguel County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among San Miguel County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Atascosa · near 21
Atascosa · near
21 declarations
- Mason · near 21
Mason · near
21 declarations
- Montgomery · near 21
Montgomery · near
21 declarations
- San Miguel · this county 21
San Miguel · this county
21 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows San Miguel County carries 21 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1460 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How San Miguel County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
San Miguel County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · San Miguel County
21 Top 48% higher than 52% 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
San Miguel County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for San Miguel County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $14.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Wildfire carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 San Miguel County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 138 paid claims, totaling $808.2K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $5.9K 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. San Miguel County's 21 federal records stand 69% above the New Mexico county mean of 12.5. 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 74.6/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $20.9M in annualized losses), and a Very High social-vulnerability profile combined with Very Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Wildfire carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 169 years here.
62 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
San Miguel County, NM · 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
15/30
21 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density Very High
21/25
21 declarations (1.7x state county average of 12)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
11 of 21 declarations are major disasters (52%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in San Miguel County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - San Miguel 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
52%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
75
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike San Miguel 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 169 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.6 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 15 times per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 62 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 115 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 867 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 9 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 10
Severe Storm 4
Flood 4
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on San Miguel County's record, 48% 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 - 11 52.4%
of all 21 declarations
Fire Management - 7 33.3%
of all 21 declarations
Emergency - 3 14.3%
of all 21 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 3 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 21 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 21 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5465 | LAS TUSAS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2023-05-10 |
| 4652 | WILDFIRES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, MUDFLOWS, AND DEBRIS FLOWS | DR | Fire | 2022-05-04 |
| 5438 | CALF CANYON FIRE | FM | Fire | 2022-04-30 |
| 5431 | HERMIT'S PEAK FIRE | FM | Fire | 2022-04-12 |
| 4529 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3460 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4199 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-10-29 |
| 4197 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-10-06 |
| 4152 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2013-10-29 |
| 5026 | TRES LAGUNAS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2013-06-05 |
| 1659 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-08-30 |
| 3229 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-07 |
| 1514 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-04-29 |
| 2424 | NM - ROYBAL FIRE - 06/13/02 | FM | Fire | 2002-06-13 |
| 2404 | NM - DALTON FIRE - 05/06/02 | FM | Fire | 2002-05-07 |
| 2304 | VIVEACH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2000-05-30 |
| 1329 | SEVERE FOREST FIRE | DR | Fire | 2000-05-13 |
| 3154 | SEVERE FIRE THREATS | EM | Fire | 2000-05-10 |
| 589 | SEVERE STORMS, SNOWMELT & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1979-06-23 |
| 380 | SEVERE STORMS, SNOW MELT & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-05-11 |
Show 1 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 202 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1965-07-01 |
Storm Events in New Mexico
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to San Miguel County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drought | 3,382 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 2,351 | 0 | 3 | $18.9M |
| Hail | 1,669 | 1 | 24 | $17.2M |
| Heavy Snow | 986 | 6 | 72 | $2.5M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 952 | 1 | 13 | $25.1M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
138
Total Paid
$808.2K
Avg Per Claim
$5.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 74.6/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$20.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Hail Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Tornado Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Volcanic Activity 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: Wildfire
Wildfire risk in the model reflects fuel, terrain, weather and how much development sits in the wildland-urban interface. It is one of the few hazards where the exposure is materially changed by land management and building choices, not only by where the county happens to be.
For San Miguel County the two measures on this page point the same way: Wildfire is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), and Fire declarations also lead its federal record. Where the model and the declaration history agree, the reading is comparatively straightforward, the hazard is both expected and repeatedly realised.
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
San Miguel County's closest FEMA peer: Texas County, OK
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for San Miguel County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
San Miguel County shows 21 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
Similar Major-disaster share
San Miguel County: 11 of 21 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
San Miguel County: NRI composite 74.6 (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 San Miguel County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for San Miguel 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: 74.6 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 21. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
San Miguel County's NFIP claims file (138 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 San Miguel County?
The most common disaster type in San Miguel County is Fire, with 10 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (4), Flood (4), Biological (2).
How does San Miguel County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New Mexico average?
FEMA lists 21 declaration records for San Miguel County. That is 69% above the New Mexico county mean of 12.5. Its count is also 1% 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 San Miguel County received?
San Miguel County has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 52% of all 21 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has San Miguel County filed?
San Miguel County has 138 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $808.2K in payments, with an average of $5.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in San Miguel County?
No. In San Miguel County, Wildfire has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $14.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in San Miguel County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in San Miguel County was 2000, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for San Miguel County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, San Miguel County, New Mexico has an overall risk score of 74.6 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Very High, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $20.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to San Miguel County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for San Miguel County as of the latest release is Wildfire (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Riverine Flooding (Relatively Moderate) and Winter Weather (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts wildfire here at roughly once every 169 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 San Miguel County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · New Mexico profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events