FEMA Records
12
Low volume
New Mexico · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Socorro County, NM
12 FEMA disaster declarations (2000-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 12
- FEMA declarations
- 7
- Major disasters
- 61
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Socorro 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 4% below the New Mexico county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 39%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 39%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 12
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 23
- 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.
How does Socorro County compare?
Socorro County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
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 · 2026-08-03
Socorro County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the New Mexico county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Socorro County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $9.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Wildfire carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low). 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 Socorro County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 61.5/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Very Low (roughly $12.4M in annualized losses), and a Very High social-vulnerability profile combined with Very Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Wildfire, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 684 years here.
Declaration frequency
Nationally, Socorro County's 12 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within New Mexico, however, the count is 4% below the county mean. 7 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Fire, appearing 4 times. The full 20-year record averages 0.6 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 23 claims and $392.7K 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 New Mexico county averages 12.5 federal declaration records, while Socorro County has 12. The gap is 4% 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.
49 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Socorro County, NM · 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
12/25
12 declarations (1.0x state county average of 12)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
7 of 12 declarations are major disasters (58%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Socorro County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. New Mexico Avg
-4%
State avg: 12.5
vs. National Avg
-42%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.6
Over 20 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Socorro 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
58%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
61
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Socorro 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 684 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 61 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 172 years |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 76 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 8.4 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 27 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 3,333 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | an average of 2 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 0.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 16 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 4
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Flood 2
Hurricane 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Socorro County's record, 33% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
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 58.3%
of all 12 declarations
Emergency - 3 25.0%
of all 12 declarations
Fire Management - 2 16.7%
of all 12 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 3 | |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4529 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3460 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4152 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2013-10-29 |
| 4148 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-09-30 |
| 1962 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND EXTREME COLD TEMPERATURES | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-03-24 |
| 1936 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2010-09-13 |
| 1659 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-08-30 |
| 3229 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-07 |
| 2522 | NM-BERNARDO FIRE-6-18-2004 | FM | Fire | 2004-06-18 |
| 1329 | SEVERE FOREST FIRE | DR | Fire | 2000-05-13 |
| 3154 | SEVERE FIRE THREATS | EM | Fire | 2000-05-10 |
| 2295 | RIO GRANDE FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2000-04-20 |
Storm Events in New Mexico
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Socorro County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drought | 3,382 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 2,351 | 0 | 3 | $18.9M |
| Hail | 1,669 | 1 | 24 | $17.2M |
| Heavy Snow | 986 | 6 | 72 | $2.5M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 952 | 1 | 13 | $25.1M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
23
Total Paid
$392.7K
Avg Per Claim
$17.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 61.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$12.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Wildfire Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Avalanche Very Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Tornado 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: Wildfire
Wildfire risk in the model reflects fuel, terrain, weather and how much development sits in the wildland-urban interface. It is one of the few hazards where the exposure is materially changed by land management and building choices, not only by where the county happens to be.
For Socorro County the two measures on this page point the same way: Wildfire is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Low), and Fire 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
Socorro County's closest FEMA peer: Cayuga County, NY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Socorro County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Socorro County: NRI composite 61.5 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Socorro County: 7 of 12 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Socorro County shows 12 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
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 Socorro County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 12 FEMA declarations, Socorro 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Socorro County?
The most common disaster type in Socorro County is Fire, with 4 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (3), Biological (2), Flood (2).
How does Socorro County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New Mexico average?
The typical New Mexico county has 12.5 FEMA declaration records; Socorro County has 12, or 4% 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 Socorro County received?
Socorro County has received 7 major disaster declarations, representing 58% of all 12 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Socorro County filed?
Socorro County has 23 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $392.7K in payments, with an average of $17.1K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Socorro County?
No. In Socorro County, Wildfire has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $9.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Socorro County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Socorro County was 2000, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 2000 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Socorro County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Socorro County, New Mexico has an overall risk score of 61.5 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $12.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Socorro County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Socorro County as of the latest release is Wildfire (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Relatively High) and Hail (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts wildfire here at roughly once every 684 years. 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.
What this means for Socorro County
Against a New Mexico county mean of 12 declarations, Socorro County, NM records 12, or 4% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (7 of 12) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. New Mexico overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 14% of recorded county totals, but its own New Mexico 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.