FEMA Records
12
Low volume
Georgia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Seminole County, GA
12 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 12
- FEMA declarations
- 6
- Major disasters
- 29
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Seminole County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 12 declarations, more than 14% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 31% below the Georgia county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 29%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 29%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 12
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 80
- 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 13253 · Seminole County 12 declarations · rank 2781/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 12
- MAJOR-MID 50%
- RANK-LOWER #2,781
- PHOTO-FINISH Johnson
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -31%
Nearest declaration peer: Johnson, KS (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Georgia state profile
Seminole County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Seminole County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Crane · near 12
Crane · near
12 declarations
- Johnson · near 12
Johnson · near
12 declarations
- Seminole · this county 12
Seminole · this county
12 declarations
- Seward · near 12
Seward · near
12 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Seminole County carries 12 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2781 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Seminole County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Seminole County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Seminole County
12 14th percentile higher than 14% 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
Seminole County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Seminole County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 80 paid claims, totaling $1.7M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $21.4K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Georgia county averages 17.4 federal declaration records, while Seminole County has 12. The gap is 31% 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's FEMA National Risk Index composite lands at 29.5/100 (Very Low), a modest reading against the rest of the country. Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $8.9M in annualized losses), tempered or compounded by a Relatively Moderate social-vulnerability score and Relatively Low community-resilience score. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Hurricane carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 4 years here, based on 67 historical events on record.
46 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Seminole County, GA · 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) Moderate
9/30
12 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.6x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
9/25
12 declarations (0.7x state county average of 17)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
6 of 12 declarations are major disasters (50%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Seminole County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Seminole 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
29
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Seminole 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 Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 32 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 74 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,758 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 955 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 5.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 34 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 5
Biological 2
Severe Storm 2
Tropical Storm 1
Tornado 1
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Seminole County's federal record, 42% 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).
Emergency - 6 50.0%
of all 12 declarations
Major Disaster - 6 50.0%
of all 12 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 12 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 12 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3616 | HURRICANE HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-26 |
| 4501 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-29 |
| 3464 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4400 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | DR | Hurricane | 2018-10-14 |
| 3406 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | EM | Hurricane | 2018-10-10 |
| 4338 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-15 |
| 3387 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-08 |
| 1833 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-04-23 |
| 3218 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1209 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-03-11 |
| 1033 | TORNADOES, FLOODING TORRENTIAL RAIN(TROP STORM ALBERTO) | DR | Tornado | 1994-07-07 |
| 3044 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-07-20 |
Storm Events in Georgia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Seminole County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 9,617 | 15 | 75 | $65.4M |
| Drought | 1,363 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Hail | 1,257 | 0 | 0 | $61.8M |
| Flash Flood | 1,154 | 0 | 3 | $29.3M |
| Tropical Storm | 655 | 28 | 19 | $855.3M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
80
Total Paid
$1.7M
Avg Per Claim
$21.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 29.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$8.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Hail Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Ice Storm 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 Seminole County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), 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
Seminole County's closest FEMA peer: Crane County, TX
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Seminole County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Seminole County shows 12 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Seminole County: 6 of 12 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Seminole County: NRI composite 29.5 (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 Seminole County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Seminole 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: 29.5 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 12. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Seminole County's NFIP claims file (80 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 Seminole County?
The most common disaster type in Seminole County is Hurricane, with 5 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Severe Storm (2), Tropical Storm (1).
How does Seminole County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Georgia average?
The typical Georgia county has 17.4 FEMA declaration records; Seminole County has 12, or 31% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 42% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Seminole County received?
Seminole County has received 6 major disaster declarations, representing 50% of all 12 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Seminole County filed?
Seminole County has 80 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.7M in payments, with an average of $21.4K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Seminole County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Seminole County was 2017, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Seminole County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Seminole County, Georgia has an overall risk score of 29.5 out of 100 (Very Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $8.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Seminole County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Seminole County is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Drought (Relatively Low) and Lightning (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 4 years, drawn from 67 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 Seminole County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Georgia profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events