FEMA Records
10
Low volume
Utah · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Sanpete County, UT
10 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 10
- FEMA declarations
- 5
- Major disasters
- 39
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Sanpete County. Its 10 FEMA declarations are 18% above the Utah county mean and exceed the count for 10% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 39%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 39%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 10
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 12
- 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 49039 · Sanpete County 10 declarations · rank 2916/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-MID 10
- MAJOR-MID 50%
- RANK-LOWER #2,916
- PHOTO-FINISH Cheyenne
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-ABOVE +18%
Nearest declaration peer: Cheyenne, NE (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Utah state profile
Sanpete County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Sanpete County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Cheyenne · near 10
Cheyenne · near
10 declarations
- Clinton · near 10
Clinton · near
10 declarations
- Golden Valley · near 10
Golden Valley · near
10 declarations
- Sanpete · this county 10
Sanpete · this county
10 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Sanpete County carries 10 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2916 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Sanpete County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Sanpete County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Sanpete County
10 10th percentile higher than 10% 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
Sanpete County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Sanpete County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 38.6/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $12.1M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively Low) and community resilience (Relatively Moderate) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Avalanche stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 1 years here, based on 27 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 12 claims and $41.2K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Sanpete County's 10 federal records stand 18% 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.
48 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Sanpete 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) Low
7/30
10 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
15/25
10 declarations (1.2x state county average of 8)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
5 of 10 declarations are major disasters (50%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Sanpete County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Sanpete 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
50%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
39
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Sanpete 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Avalanche | Very High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 363 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 85 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 46 times per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 25 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 73 modeled event-days per year |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 5,000 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 0.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 24 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 8 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 4
Biological 2
Fire 2
Coastal Storm 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Sanpete County's record, 40% 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 - 5 50.0%
of all 10 declarations
Emergency - 3 30.0%
of all 10 declarations
Fire Management - 2 20.0%
of all 10 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 10 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 10 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4752 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2023-12-23 |
| 4525 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3478 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5267 | HILLTOP FIRE | FM | Fire | 2018-08-06 |
| 2986 | WOOD HOLLOW FIRE | FM | Fire | 2012-06-24 |
| 4011 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-08-08 |
| 3223 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-05 |
| 720 | SEVERE STORMS, MUDSLIDES, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-08-17 |
| 680 | SEVERE STORMS, LANDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1983-04-30 |
| 3024 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-20 |
Storm Events in Utah
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Sanpete 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
12
Total Paid
$41.2K
Avg Per Claim
$3.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 38.6/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$12.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Avalanche Very High
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Hail Very Low
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: Avalanche
Avalanche is the most geographically restricted hazard in the model, limited to steep terrain holding seasonal snow. Its exposure concentrates on mountain roads, rail corridors and backcountry recreation rather than on the built environment generally.
Worth noting for Sanpete County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Avalanche carries the highest modeled rating (Very 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
Sanpete County's closest FEMA peer: Jackson County, MI
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Sanpete County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Sanpete County shows 10 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Sanpete County: 5 of 10 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Sanpete County: NRI composite 38.6 (Very 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 Sanpete County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Sanpete 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: 38.6 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 10. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 10 FEMA declarations, Sanpete County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
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 Sanpete County?
The most common disaster type in Sanpete County is Flood, with 4 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Fire (2), Coastal Storm (1).
How does Sanpete County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Utah average?
FEMA lists 10 declaration records for Sanpete County. That is 18% above the Utah county mean of 8.5. Its count is also 52% 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 Sanpete County received?
Sanpete County has received 5 major disaster declarations, representing 50% of all 10 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Sanpete County filed?
Sanpete County has 12 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $41.2K in payments, with an average of $3.4K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Sanpete County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Sanpete County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Sanpete County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Sanpete County, Utah has an overall risk score of 38.6 out of 100 (Very Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $12.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Sanpete County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Sanpete County is Avalanche (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Moderate) and Earthquake (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts avalanche here at roughly once every 1 years, drawn from 27 historical events on record. 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Sanpete County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Utah profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events