FEMA Records
9
Low volume
Wisconsin · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Sawyer County, WI
9 FEMA disaster declarations (1976-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 9
- FEMA declarations
- 5
- Major disasters
- 74
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Start with the local benchmark for Sawyer County: 9 FEMA declaration records are 27% below the Wisconsin county mean, even though the count is higher than 8% of counties in the national registry. On FEMA's distinct National Risk Index model, which combines expected loss with vulnerability and resilience, the county ranks in the riskiest 26%.
- Riskiest 26%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 9
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 8
- 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.
How does Sawyer County compare?
Sawyer County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
9 8th percentile higher than 8% 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 · 2026-08-03
Sawyer County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Wisconsin county average
What does Sawyer County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 74.5/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $23.4M in annualized losses), and a Very High social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Moderate community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Cold Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 9.1 times per year here, based on 172 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The state comparison is the clearest context for Sawyer County's moderate federal record. Its 9 declarations sit 27% below the Wisconsin county mean, with 5 Major Disaster entries among them. 3 records concern Severe Storm, the file's most frequent incident type. Spread across 44 years, the registry rate is 0.2 per year. FEMA reports authorized programs separately from the DR, EM, and FM codes.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 8 claims and $69.2K 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.
Start with the state benchmark: a Wisconsin county averages 12.3 federal declaration records, while Sawyer County has 9. The gap is 27% 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.
45 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Sawyer County, WI · 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
9 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.4x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
9/25
9 declarations (0.7x state county average of 12)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
5 of 9 declarations are major disasters (56%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Sawyer County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
Moderate
vs. Wisconsin Avg
-27%
State avg: 12.3
vs. National Avg
-57%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.2
Over 44 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Sawyer 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
56%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
74
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Sawyer 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 9.1 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 19 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 31 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 4 modeled event-days per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 1.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 30,015 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 4,608 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Tornado 1
Flood 1
Drought 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Sawyer County's record, 33% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
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 55.6%
of all 9 declarations
Emergency - 4 44.4%
of all 9 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 9 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 9 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4520 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3454 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4276 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-08-09 |
| 3249 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1432 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2002-09-10 |
| 1332 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-06-24 |
| 1284 | WI-FLOOD-07/20/99 | DR | Flood | 1999-08-16 |
| 3048 | WINDS, HAIL & RAIN | EM | Severe Storm | 1977-10-03 |
| 3014 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-06-17 |
Storm Events in Wisconsin
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Sawyer County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 3,504 | 5 | 23 | $45.0M |
| Hail | 2,620 | 0 | 0 | $57.8M |
| Winter Weather | 1,939 | 43 | 152 | $2.1M |
| Winter Storm | 1,338 | 15 | 86 | $2.3M |
| Flood | 740 | 12 | 4 | $115.6M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
8
Total Paid
$69.2K
Avg Per Claim
$8.6K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 74.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$23.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Hurricane 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: Cold Wave
Cold Wave measures exposure to extreme cold rather than to snow. Its harm is concentrated in health effects, burst infrastructure and energy demand spikes, and it falls hardest where the building stock and the grid were not built with sustained cold in mind.
Worth noting for Sawyer County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Severe Storm. 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
Sawyer County's closest FEMA peer: Boone County, KY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Sawyer County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Sawyer County: NRI composite 74.5 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Sawyer County: 5 of 9 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Sawyer County shows 9 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
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 Sawyer County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
FEMA's National Risk Index flags Cold Wave as the top modeled exposure here (Relatively High); the guide explains how that model differs from declaration counts.
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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Sawyer County?
The most common disaster type in Sawyer County is Severe Storm, with 3 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Hurricane (1), Tornado (1).
How does Sawyer County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Wisconsin average?
The typical Wisconsin county has 12.3 FEMA declaration records; Sawyer County has 9, or 27% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 57% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Sawyer County received?
Sawyer County has received 5 major disaster declarations, representing 56% of all 9 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Sawyer County filed?
Sawyer County has 8 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $69.2K in payments, with an average of $8.6K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Sawyer County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Sawyer County was 2020, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1976 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Sawyer County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Sawyer County, Wisconsin has an overall risk score of 74.5 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Very High; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $23.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Sawyer County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Sawyer County as of the latest release is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Winter Weather (Relatively Moderate) and Strong Wind (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 9.1 times per year, drawn from 172 historical events on record. 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.
What this means for Sawyer County
Against a Wisconsin county mean of 12 declarations, Sawyer County, WI records 9, or 27% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as moderate activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (5 of 9) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Wisconsin overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 8% of recorded county totals, but its own Wisconsin benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. Most-disaster rankings
- A short NFIP claims file cannot establish low flood exposure; the data guide explains the limits of each federal measure. Disaster-data guide
A below-average federal record is not a safety guarantee. Use National Weather Service alerts and local emergency-management notices for present conditions, not this historical comparison.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.