FEMA Records
19
Below median
Virginia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Suffolk (city), VA
19 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 19
- FEMA declarations
- 11
- Major disasters
- 60
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Suffolk (city) has a nationally busy FEMA history: 19 declarations, more than 41% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 7% below the Virginia county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 40%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 40%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 19
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 234
- 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 Suffolk (city) compare?
Suffolk (city) vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
19 41st percentile higher than 41% 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
Suffolk (city)'s FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Virginia county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Suffolk (city) is led by Riverine Flooding (about $8.9M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Drought carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively 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 Suffolk (city)'s hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 234 paid claims, totaling $5.2M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $22.2K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Virginia county averages 20.4 federal declaration records, while Suffolk (city) has 19. The gap is 7% 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, 60.1/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $25.4M in annualized losses), and a Very Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Very High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Drought stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 2 modeled event-days per year here, based on 56 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
Nationally, Suffolk (city)'s 19 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within Virginia, however, the count is 7% below the county mean. 11 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Hurricane, appearing 11 times. The full 54-year record averages 0.4 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
58 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Suffolk (city), VA · 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
14/30
19 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
19 declarations (0.9x state county average of 20)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
11 of 19 declarations are major disasters (58%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Suffolk (city)
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Virginia Avg
-7%
State avg: 20.4
vs. National Avg
-8%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.4
Over 54 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Suffolk (city)
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
60
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Suffolk (city)?
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drought | Relatively High | 2 modeled event-days per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 6.8 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 46 times per year |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 3,599 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 981 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 2 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 13 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 11
Biological 2
Snowstorm 2
Winter Storm 1
Severe Storm 1
Freezing 1
Flood 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Suffolk (city)'s federal record, 58% 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 - 11 57.9%
of all 19 declarations
Emergency - 8 42.1%
of all 19 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 19 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 19 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3631 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-23 |
| 4512 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-02 |
| 3448 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3403 | HURRICANE FLORENCE | EM | Hurricane | 2018-09-11 |
| 4291 | HURRICANE MATTHEW | DR | Hurricane | 2016-11-02 |
| 3359 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-29 |
| 4024 | HURRICANE IRENE | DR | Hurricane | 2011-09-03 |
| 3329 | HURRICANE IRENE | EM | Hurricane | 2011-08-26 |
| 3240 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-12 |
| 1491 | HURRICANE ISABEL | DR | Hurricane | 2003-09-18 |
| 1318 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-02-28 |
| 1293 | HURRICANE FLOYD MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS | DR | Hurricane | 1999-09-18 |
| 3147 | HURRICANE FLOYD EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS | EM | Hurricane | 1999-09-16 |
| 1242 | HURRICANE BONNIE | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-04 |
| 1135 | HURRICANE FRAN AND ASSOCIATED SEVERE STORM COND | DR | Hurricane | 1996-09-06 |
| 1086 | BLIZZARD OF 96 (SEVERE SNOW STORM) | DR | Snowstorm | 1996-01-13 |
| 3112 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-25 |
| 525 | ICE CONDITIONS | DR | Freezing | 1977-01-26 |
| 339 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
Storm Events in Virginia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Suffolk (city).
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 8,940 | 13 | 31 | $123.1M |
| Flood | 2,300 | 4 | 0 | $85.1M |
| Winter Weather | 2,049 | 6 | 32 | $902.0K |
| Flash Flood | 1,942 | 13 | 4 | $244.2M |
| Heavy Rain | 1,566 | 0 | 0 | $2.5M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
234
Total Paid
$5.2M
Avg Per Claim
$22.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 60.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$25.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively High
Winter Weather Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Coastal Flooding Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively 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: Drought
Drought is the slowest of the modeled hazards and the least visible: it does its damage to agriculture, water supply and soil over seasons rather than hours, so it rarely produces the kind of single-day damage that drives a disaster declaration. FEMA scores it in event-days per year rather than discrete events for exactly that reason.
Worth noting for Suffolk (city): the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively 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
Suffolk (city)'s closest FEMA peer: Bingham County, ID
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Suffolk (city). Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Suffolk (city): NRI composite 60.1 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Suffolk (city): 11 of 19 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Suffolk (city) shows 19 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
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 Suffolk (city) - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Suffolk (city)'s NFIP claims file (234 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 Suffolk (city)?
The most common disaster type in Suffolk (city) is Hurricane, with 11 declarations. Other disaster types include Biological (2), Snowstorm (2), Winter Storm (1).
How does Suffolk (city)'s FEMA declaration record compare with the Virginia average?
The typical Virginia county has 20.4 FEMA declaration records; Suffolk (city) has 19, or 7% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 8% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Suffolk (city) received?
Suffolk (city) has received 11 major disaster declarations, representing 58% of all 19 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Suffolk (city) filed?
Suffolk (city) has 234 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $5.2M in payments, with an average of $22.2K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Suffolk (city)?
No. In Suffolk (city), Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $8.9M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Suffolk (city)?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Suffolk (city) was 1996, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Suffolk (city)?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Suffolk (city), Virginia has an overall risk score of 60.1 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Very Low; on community resilience, Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $25.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Suffolk (city)?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Suffolk (city) as of the latest release is Drought (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Winter Weather (Relatively High) and Hurricane (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 2 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 56 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 Suffolk (city)
Against a Virginia county mean of 20 declarations, Suffolk (city), VA records 19, or 7% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (11 of 19) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Virginia overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 41% of recorded county totals, but its own Virginia benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. 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
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.