FEMA Records
34
Very high volume
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
San Patricio County, TX
34 FEMA disaster declarations (1967-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 34
- FEMA declarations
- 22
- Major disasters
- 85
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for San Patricio County. Its 34 FEMA declarations are 63% above the Texas county mean and exceed the count for 92% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 15%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 15%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 34
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,981
- 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 48409 · San Patricio County 34 declarations · rank 251/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-HIGH
- DECL-HEAVY 34
- MAJOR-MID 65%
- RANK-UPPER #251
- PHOTO-FINISH Sumter
- NRI-MID 85
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-HIGH +63%
Nearest declaration peer: Sumter, FL (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
San Patricio County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among San Patricio County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Casey · near 34
Casey · near
34 declarations
- Morgan · near 34
Morgan · near
34 declarations
- San Patricio · this county 34
San Patricio · this county
34 declarations
- Sumter · near 34
Sumter · near
34 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows San Patricio County carries 34 FEMA declaration records, ranked 251 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where San Patricio County ranks in the national declaration registry
San Patricio County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · San Patricio County
34 Top 8% higher than 92% 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 Patricio County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does San Patricio County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,981 claims and $19.8M 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.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. San Patricio County's 34 federal records stand 63% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. 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 85.4/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $39.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hurricane stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 8 years here, based on 44 historical events on record.
79 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
San Patricio County, TX · 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
25/30
34 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.6x national county average)
County Disaster Density Very High
20/25
34 declarations (1.6x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
16/25
22 of 34 declarations are major disasters (65%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in San Patricio County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - San Patricio 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
65%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
85
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike San Patricio 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 8 years |
| Drought | Relatively High | 63 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 14 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.5 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 312 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 47 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 5,618 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 16 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 18
Flood 5
Fire 3
Severe Storm 3
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on San Patricio County's federal record, 53% 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).
Major Disaster - 22 64.7%
of all 34 declarations
Emergency - 11 32.4%
of all 34 declarations
Fire Management - 1 2.9%
of all 34 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 5 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1985 | 1 | |
Show 5 earlier declaration years
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
| 1970 | 1 | |
| 1968 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 34 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 34 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5552 | WELDER FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-03-04 |
| 4798 | HURRICANE BERYL | DR | Hurricane | 2024-07-09 |
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 3540 | TROPICAL STORMS MARCO AND LAURA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-24 |
| 3530 | HURRICANE HANNA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-07-26 |
| 4485 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3458 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4332 | HURRICANE HARVEY | DR | Hurricane | 2017-08-25 |
| 3313 | TROPICAL STORM ALEX | EM | Hurricane | 2010-06-29 |
| 1791 | HURRICANE IKE | DR | Hurricane | 2008-09-13 |
| 3294 | HURRICANE IKE | EM | Hurricane | 2008-09-10 |
| 3290 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-29 |
| 1780 | HURRICANE DOLLY | DR | Hurricane | 2008-07-24 |
| 3284 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-03-14 |
| 3277 | HURRICANE DEAN | EM | Hurricane | 2007-08-18 |
| 1709 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-06-29 |
| 1624 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-11 |
| 1606 | HURRICANE RITA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-09-24 |
| 3261 | HURRICANE RITA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-21 |
Show 14 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3216 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-02 |
| 1479 | HURRICANE CLAUDETTE | DR | Hurricane | 2003-07-17 |
| 1439 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-11-05 |
| 1434 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | DR | Coastal Storm | 2002-09-26 |
| 1425 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2002-07-04 |
| 1287 | HURRICANE BRET | DR | Hurricane | 1999-08-22 |
| 1257 | TX-FLOODING 10/18/98 | DR | Flood | 1998-10-21 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 727 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-10-30 |
| 627 | HURRICANE ALLEN | DR | Hurricane | 1980-08-11 |
| 313 | HEAVY RAINS, HIGH WINDS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1971-09-18 |
| 292 | HURRICANE CELIA | DR | Hurricane | 1970-08-04 |
| 246 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WINDS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1968-07-05 |
| 232 | HURRICANE BEULAH | DR | Hurricane | 1967-09-28 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to San Patricio County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 14,072 | 0 | 15 | $7.4B |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 10,293 | 41 | 141 | $369.9M |
| Drought | 7,032 | 0 | 0 | $86.0K |
| Flash Flood | 4,728 | 338 | 24 | $47.6B |
| Heat | 4,079 | 119 | 405 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
1,981
Total Paid
$19.8M
Avg Per Claim
$10.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 85.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$39.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively High
Drought Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Wildfire Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Landslide 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: Hurricane
Hurricane exposure in the model bundles the three ways a tropical system does harm, which arrive on different timescales and are insured differently: wind, storm surge on the coast, and rainfall flooding that can reach far inland well after landfall.
For San Patricio County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Hurricane 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 Patricio County's closest FEMA peer: Santa Cruz County, CA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for San Patricio County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
San Patricio County shows 34 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
San Patricio County: 22 of 34 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
San Patricio County: NRI composite 85.4 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Patricio County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for San Patricio 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: 85.4 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 34. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
San Patricio County's NFIP claims file (1,981 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 Patricio County?
The most common disaster type in San Patricio County is Hurricane, with 18 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (5), Fire (3), Severe Storm (3).
How does San Patricio County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
FEMA lists 34 declaration records for San Patricio County. That is 63% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. Its count is also 64% 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 Patricio County received?
San Patricio County has received 22 major disaster declarations, representing 65% of all 34 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has San Patricio County filed?
San Patricio County has 1,981 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $19.8M in payments, with an average of $10.0K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in San Patricio County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in San Patricio County was 2008, with 5 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1967 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for San Patricio County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, San Patricio County, Texas has an overall risk score of 85.4 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $39.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to San Patricio County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in San Patricio County as of the latest release is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Drought (Relatively High) and Cold Wave (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 8 years, drawn from 44 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 San Patricio County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events