FEMA Records
17
Below median
Kansas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Shawnee County, KS
17 FEMA disaster declarations (1966-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 17
- FEMA declarations
- 14
- Major disasters
- 88
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Shawnee County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 17 declarations, more than 32% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 5% below the Kansas county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 12%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 12%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 17
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 368
- 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 20177 · Shawnee County 17 declarations · rank 2143/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 17
- MAJOR-HEAVY 82%
- RANK-LOWER #2,143
- PHOTO-FINISH Curry
- NRI-MID 88
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-BELOW -5%
Nearest declaration peer: Curry, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Kansas state profile
Shawnee County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Shawnee County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Curry · near 17
Curry · near
17 declarations
- Murray · near 17
Murray · near
17 declarations
- Shawnee · this county 17
Shawnee · this county
17 declarations
- Washington · near 17
Washington · near
17 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Shawnee County carries 17 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2143 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Shawnee County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Shawnee County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Shawnee County
17 32nd percentile higher than 32% 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
Shawnee County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Shawnee County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $40.0M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Winter Weather carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Shawnee County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 368 paid claims, totaling $4.0M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $10.8K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Kansas county averages 18.0 federal declaration records, while Shawnee County has 17. The gap is 5% 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 sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 88.0/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $74.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Winter Weather stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 12 times per year here, based on 230 historical events on record.
63 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Shawnee County, KS · 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
12/30
17 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.8x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
17 declarations (0.9x state county average of 18)
Major Disaster Share Very High
21/25
14 of 17 declarations are major disasters (82%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Shawnee County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Shawnee 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
82%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
88
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Shawnee 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather | Very High | an average of 12 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Very High | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 51 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 14 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.5 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 9.9 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.4 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 7.5 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 759 years |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1,120 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 13 modeled event-days per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 8
Flood 3
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Hurricane 1
Severe Ice Storm 1
Tornado 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Shawnee County's record, 47% 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 - 14 82.4%
of all 17 declarations
Emergency - 3 17.6%
of all 17 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 2 | |
| 1966 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 17 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 17 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4774 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Winter Storm | 2024-04-28 |
| 4504 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-29 |
| 3481 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 1885 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-03-09 |
| 1741 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-02-01 |
| 3282 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | EM | Severe Storm | 2007-12-12 |
| 1699 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-05-06 |
| 1615 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2005-11-15 |
| 3236 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1579 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, HEAVY RAINS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2005-02-08 |
| 1535 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-08-03 |
| 1402 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2002-02-06 |
| 1000 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-07-22 |
| 539 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1977-09-20 |
| 403 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1973-09-28 |
| 378 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-05-02 |
| 219 | TORNADOES & SEVERE STORMS | DR | Tornado | 1966-06-10 |
Storm Events in Kansas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Shawnee County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 8,265 | 0 | 9 | $24.2M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 7,987 | 3 | 34 | $30.6M |
| High Wind | 1,553 | 1 | 7 | $10.2M |
| Drought | 1,272 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flash Flood | 1,037 | 6 | 9 | $35.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
368
Total Paid
$4.0M
Avg Per Claim
$10.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 88.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$74.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Winter Weather Very High
Ice Storm Very High
Tornado Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Landslide Relatively Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Drought Relatively 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: Winter Weather
Winter Weather in the model means the accumulation of snow and cold that disrupts rather than destroys: road closures, roof loads, burst pipes and lost heating. Its costs land heavily on transport and on households least able to absorb an interruption.
Worth noting for Shawnee County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Winter Weather carries the highest modeled rating (Very 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
Shawnee County's closest FEMA peer: Anoka County, MN
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Shawnee County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Shawnee County: NRI composite 88.0 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar Major-disaster share
Shawnee County: 14 of 17 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Shawnee County shows 17 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 Shawnee County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Shawnee 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: 88.0 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 17. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Shawnee County's NFIP claims file (368 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 Shawnee County?
The most common disaster type in Shawnee County is Severe Storm, with 8 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (3), Biological (2), Winter Storm (1).
How does Shawnee County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Kansas average?
The typical Kansas county has 18.0 FEMA declaration records; Shawnee County has 17, or 5% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 18% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Shawnee County received?
Shawnee County has received 14 major disaster declarations, representing 82% of all 17 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Shawnee County filed?
Shawnee County has 368 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $4.0M in payments, with an average of $10.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Shawnee County?
No. In Shawnee County, Winter Weather has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $40.0M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Shawnee County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Shawnee County was 1973, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1966 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Shawnee County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Shawnee County, Kansas has an overall risk score of 88.0 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $74.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Shawnee County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Shawnee County is Winter Weather (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Ice Storm (Very High) and Tornado (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts winter weather here at an average of 12 times per year, drawn from 230 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 Shawnee County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Kansas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events