FEMA Records
23
Above median
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Starr County, TX
23 FEMA disaster declarations (1967-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 23
- FEMA declarations
- 14
- Major disasters
- 85
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Starr County. Its 23 FEMA declarations are 10% above the Texas county mean and exceed the count for 62% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 15%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 15%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 23
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 84
- 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 Starr County compare?
Starr County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
23 Top 38% higher than 62% 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
Starr County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Texas county average
What does Starr County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 84 paid claims, totaling $1.9M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $22.9K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Starr County's 23 federal records stand 10% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 84.8/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $29.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Cold Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 2.5 times per year here, based on 48 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 23 entries for Starr County, including 14 Major Disaster records, 10% above the Texas county mean. Across the 58-year span, that works out to 0.4 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 10 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
64 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Starr County, TX · 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) High
17/30
23 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
23 declarations (1.1x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
14 of 23 declarations are major disasters (61%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Starr County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Texas Avg
+10%
State avg: 20.9
vs. National Avg
+11%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.4
Over 58 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Starr 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
61%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
85
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Starr 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 | Very High | an average of 2.5 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 177 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 7.1 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 12 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 76 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 9 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 9 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 3,559 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 36 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 10
Severe Storm 3
Flood 2
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Fire 2
Freezing 2
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Starr County's federal record, 43% 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).
Major Disaster - 14 60.9%
of all 23 declarations
Emergency - 9 39.1%
of all 23 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 4 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 23 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 23 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4871 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2025-05-21 |
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 3530 | HURRICANE HANNA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-07-26 |
| 4485 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3458 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4223 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-29 |
| 1931 | HURRICANE ALEX | DR | Hurricane | 2010-08-03 |
| 3313 | TROPICAL STORM ALEX | EM | Hurricane | 2010-06-29 |
| 3294 | HURRICANE IKE | EM | Hurricane | 2008-09-10 |
| 3290 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-29 |
| 1780 | HURRICANE DOLLY | DR | Hurricane | 2008-07-24 |
| 3284 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-03-14 |
| 1709 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-06-29 |
| 1624 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-11 |
| 1606 | HURRICANE RITA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-09-24 |
| 3261 | HURRICANE RITA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-21 |
| 3216 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-02 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 850 | SEVERE FREEZE | DR | Freezing | 1990-01-09 |
Show 3 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 696 | SEVERE FREEZING WEATHER | DR | Freezing | 1984-01-07 |
| 313 | HEAVY RAINS, HIGH WINDS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1971-09-18 |
| 232 | HURRICANE BEULAH | DR | Hurricane | 1967-09-28 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Starr County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 14,072 | 0 | 15 | $7.4B |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 10,293 | 41 | 141 | $369.9M |
| Drought | 7,032 | 0 | 0 | $86.0K |
| Flash Flood | 4,728 | 338 | 24 | $47.6B |
| Heat | 4,079 | 119 | 405 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
84
Total Paid
$1.9M
Avg Per Claim
$22.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 84.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$29.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Very High
Wildfire Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Lightning Very Low
Strong Wind 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: 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 Starr County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. 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
Starr County's closest FEMA peer: Siskiyou County, CA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Starr County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Starr County shows 23 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Starr County: 14 of 23 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Starr County: NRI composite 84.8 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Starr County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Starr County's NFIP claims file (84 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Starr County?
The most common disaster type in Starr County is Hurricane, with 10 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (3), Flood (2), Severe Ice Storm (2).
How does Starr County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
FEMA lists 23 declaration records for Starr County. That is 10% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. Its count is also 11% above the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Starr County received?
Starr County has received 14 major disaster declarations, representing 61% of all 23 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Starr County filed?
Starr County has 84 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.9M in payments, with an average of $22.9K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Starr County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Starr County was 2008, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1967 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Starr County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Starr County, Texas has an overall risk score of 84.8 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $29.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Starr County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Starr County is Cold Wave (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Low) and Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 2.5 times per year, drawn from 48 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 Starr County
Starr County, TX has 23 federal declaration records, 10% more than the Texas county mean of 21; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 14 of 23 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Texas overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Texas mean and the totals for 62% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- Use the data guide to separate this mid-volume insurance-claims file from declaration counts and modeled NRI risk. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
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.