FEMA Records
39
Very high volume
Florida · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Suwannee County, FL
39 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 39
- FEMA declarations
- 23
- Major disasters
- 71
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Suwannee County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 39 declarations, more than 96% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 3% below the Florida county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 29%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 29%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 39
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 364
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 12121 · Suwannee County 39 declarations · rank 126/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 39
- MAJOR-MID 59%
- RANK-UPPER #126
- PHOTO-FINISH Canadian
- NRI-LOW 71
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -3%
Nearest declaration peer: Canadian, OK (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Florida state profile
Suwannee County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Suwannee County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Canadian · near
Canadian · near
39 declarations
- Delaware · near
Delaware · near
39 declarations
- Orange · near
Orange · near
39 declarations
- Suwannee · this county
Suwannee · this county
39 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Suwannee County carries 39 FEMA declaration records, ranked 126 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Suwannee County ranks in the national declaration registry
Suwannee County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Suwannee County
39 Top 4% higher than 96% 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
Suwannee County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Suwannee County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 364 paid claims, totaling $8.4M. 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.
Start with the state benchmark: a Florida county averages 40.4 federal declaration records, while Suwannee County has 39. The gap is 3% 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, 71.3/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $24.5M in annualized losses), and a Relatively High social-vulnerability profile combined with Very Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hurricane stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 5 years here, based on 71 historical events on record.
75 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Suwannee County, FL · 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) Very High
28/30
39 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
39 declarations (1.0x state county average of 40)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
23 of 39 declarations are major disasters (59%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Suwannee County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Suwannee 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
59%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
71
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Suwannee 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 High | roughly once every 5 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 81 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 512 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 1.8 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 4 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,049 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 14 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 10 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 19
Severe Storm 7
Tropical Storm 4
Fire 4
Biological 2
Freezing 1
Tornado 1
Flood 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Suwannee County's federal record, 49% 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 - 23 59.0%
of all 39 declarations
Emergency - 14 35.9%
of all 39 declarations
Fire Management - 2 5.1%
of all 39 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 5 | |
| 2023 | 3 | |
| 2022 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 3 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 3 | |
Show 6 earlier declaration years
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 4 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 39 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 39 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4834 | HURRICANE MILTON | DR | Hurricane | 2024-10-11 |
| 3622 | HURRICANE MILTON | EM | Hurricane | 2024-10-07 |
| 4828 | HURRICANE HELENE | DR | Hurricane | 2024-09-28 |
| 3615 | TROPICAL STORM HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-24 |
| 4806 | HURRICANE DEBBY | DR | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-10 |
| 3605 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-03 |
| 4794 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-06-17 |
| 4734 | HURRICANE IDALIA | DR | Hurricane | 2023-08-31 |
| 3596 | TROPICAL STORM IDALIA | EM | Tropical Storm | 2023-08-28 |
| 4680 | HURRICANE NICOLE | DR | Hurricane | 2022-12-13 |
| 4673 | HURRICANE IAN | DR | Hurricane | 2022-09-29 |
| 3584 | TROPICAL STORM IAN | EM | Hurricane | 2022-09-24 |
| 3561 | TROPICAL STORM ELSA | EM | Severe Storm | 2021-07-04 |
| 4486 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3432 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3419 | HURRICANE DORIAN | EM | Hurricane | 2019-08-30 |
| 4399 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | DR | Hurricane | 2018-10-11 |
| 3405 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | EM | Hurricane | 2018-10-09 |
| 4337 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-10 |
| 3385 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-05 |
Show 19 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4280 | HURRICANE HERMINE | DR | Hurricane | 2016-09-28 |
| 4068 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | DR | Severe Storm | 2012-07-03 |
| 1831 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-04-21 |
| 1785 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-08-24 |
| 3288 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | EM | Severe Storm | 2008-08-21 |
| 2689 | SUWANNEE FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2007-05-07 |
| 3220 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1561 | HURRICANE JEANNE | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-26 |
| 1545 | HURRICANE FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-04 |
| 1539 | TROPICAL STORM BONNIE AND HURRICANE CHARLEY | DR | Hurricane | 2004-08-13 |
| 1359 | SEVERE FREEZE | DR | Freezing | 2001-02-05 |
| 2306 | FL, SUWANNEE FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2000-06-05 |
| 3139 | FL-FIRES 04/15/99 | EM | Fire | 1999-04-27 |
| 1249 | HURRICANE GEORGES | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-28 |
| 3131 | HURRICANE GRORGES | EM | Hurricane | 1998-09-25 |
| 1223 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | DR | Fire | 1998-06-18 |
| 1195 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-01-06 |
| 982 | TORNADOES, FLOODING, HIGH WINDS & TIDES, FREEZING | DR | Tornado | 1993-03-13 |
| 387 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-05-26 |
Storm Events in Florida
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Suwannee County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,243 | 17 | 45 | $24.8M |
| Hail | 1,012 | 0 | 0 | $564.6K |
| Heavy Rain | 865 | 2 | 3 | $200.0K |
| Flood | 826 | 9 | 0 | $2.0B |
| Tropical Storm | 767 | 92 | 6 | $4.9B |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
364
Total Paid
$8.4M
Avg Per Claim
$22.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 71.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$24.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Hail Very Low
Coastal Flooding 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: 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 Suwannee County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), 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
Suwannee County's closest FEMA peer: Napa County, CA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Suwannee County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Suwannee County shows 39 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Suwannee County: 23 of 39 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Suwannee County: NRI composite 71.3 (Relatively 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 Suwannee County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Suwannee 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: 71.3 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 39. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Suwannee County's NFIP claims file (364 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 Suwannee County?
The most common disaster type in Suwannee County is Hurricane, with 19 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (7), Tropical Storm (4), Fire (4).
How does Suwannee County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Florida average?
The typical Florida county has 40.4 FEMA declaration records; Suwannee County has 39, or 3% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 88% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Suwannee County received?
Suwannee County has received 23 major disaster declarations, representing 59% of all 39 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Suwannee County filed?
Suwannee County has 364 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $8.4M in payments, with an average of $22.9K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Suwannee County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Suwannee County was 2024, with 5 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Suwannee County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Suwannee County, Florida has an overall risk score of 71.3 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $24.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Suwannee County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Suwannee County is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Relatively High) and Wildfire (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 5 years, drawn from 71 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 Suwannee County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Florida profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events