FEMA Records
10
Low volume
Nebraska · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Scotts Bluff County, NE
10 FEMA disaster declarations (1998-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 10
- FEMA declarations
- 7
- Major disasters
- 64
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Scotts Bluff County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 10 declarations, more than 10% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 40% below the Nebraska county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 36%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 36%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 10
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 52
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 31157 · Scotts Bluff County 10 declarations · rank 2924/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 10
- MAJOR-MID 70%
- RANK-LOWER #2,924
- PHOTO-FINISH Cheyenne
- NRI-LOW 64
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-BELOW -40%
Nearest declaration peer: Cheyenne, NE (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Nebraska state profile
Scotts Bluff County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Scotts Bluff 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
- Scotts Bluff · this county 10
Scotts Bluff · this county
10 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Scotts Bluff County carries 10 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2924 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Scotts Bluff County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Scotts Bluff County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Scotts Bluff 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
Scotts Bluff County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Scotts Bluff County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 52 paid claims, totaling $177.7K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $3.4K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Nebraska county averages 16.8 federal declaration records, while Scotts Bluff County has 10. The gap is 40% 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 63.8/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $24.7M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hail stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 5.2 times per year here, based on 198 historical events on record.
42 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Scotts Bluff County, NE · 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 Moderate
7/25
10 declarations (0.6x state county average of 17)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
7 of 10 declarations are major disasters (70%)
Hazard Diversity High
10/20
4 different disaster types declared in Scotts Bluff County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Scotts Bluff 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
70%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
64
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Scotts Bluff 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hail | Relatively High | an average of 5.2 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively High | 81 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 15 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.7 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 32 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 969 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 45 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,894 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 4
Flood 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Scotts Bluff County's record, 40% 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 - 7 70.0%
of all 10 declarations
Emergency - 3 30.0%
of all 10 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4822 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-09-24 |
| 4786 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-05-24 |
| 4521 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3483 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4420 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-03-21 |
| 4013 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-08-12 |
| 3323 | FLOODING | EM | Flood | 2011-06-18 |
| 1853 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-07-31 |
| 3245 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUEES | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1190 | SEVERE SNOW STORMS, RAIN, AND STRONG WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-11-01 |
Storm Events in Nebraska
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Scotts Bluff County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 6,079 | 0 | 2 | $237.7M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 4,757 | 3 | 19 | $228.1M |
| Drought | 1,658 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 1,647 | 1 | 1 | $22.1M |
| Winter Storm | 1,155 | 0 | 2 | $335.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
52
Total Paid
$177.7K
Avg Per Claim
$3.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 63.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$24.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Relatively High
Drought Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Heat Wave 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: Hail
Hail is among the most expensive hazards in the model relative to how little it threatens life. It concentrates on roofs, vehicles and crops, and a single severe storm can generate an insurance loss across a metropolitan area without a single injury.
For Scotts Bluff County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hail is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Severe Storm 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
Scotts Bluff County's closest FEMA peer: Reynolds County, MO
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Scotts Bluff County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Scotts Bluff County: NRI composite 63.8 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Scotts Bluff County: 7 of 10 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Scotts Bluff County shows 10 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 Scotts Bluff County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Scotts Bluff 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: 63.8 (Relatively 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
Understanding disaster data
Scotts Bluff County's NFIP claims file (52 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 Scotts Bluff County?
The most common disaster type in Scotts Bluff County is Severe Storm, with 4 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (3), Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does Scotts Bluff County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Nebraska average?
The typical Nebraska county has 16.8 FEMA declaration records; Scotts Bluff County has 10, or 40% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 52% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Scotts Bluff County received?
Scotts Bluff County has received 7 major disaster declarations, representing 70% of all 10 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Scotts Bluff County filed?
Scotts Bluff County has 52 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $177.7K in payments, with an average of $3.4K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Scotts Bluff County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Scotts Bluff County was 2011, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1998 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Scotts Bluff County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska has an overall risk score of 63.8 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $24.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Scotts Bluff County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Scotts Bluff County is Hail (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Drought (Relatively High) and Winter Weather (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 5.2 times per year, drawn from 198 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 Scotts Bluff County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Nebraska profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events