FEMA Records
14
Low volume
American Samoa · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Swains Island, AS
14 FEMA disaster declarations (1966-2020). Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 14
- FEMA declarations
- 12
- Major disasters
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
How does Swains Island compare?
Swains Island vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
14 20th percentile higher than 20% 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
What does Swains Island's hazard record show?
Declaration frequency
Nationally, Swains Island's 14 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within American Samoa, however, the count is 7% below the county mean. 12 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Hurricane, appearing 5 times. The full 54-year record averages 0.3 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
Reading the federal records together
No paid-claim row for this county appears in the NFIP county table used by PlainHazard. That absence is not evidence that flooding never occurred: the register observes claims under federal flood-insurance policies, not uninsured losses, emergency reports, or every flood outside the program. The FEMA declaration history below is therefore the available federal-action record on this page.
Start with the state benchmark: a American Samoa county averages 15.0 federal declaration records, while Swains Island has 14. 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.
61 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Swains Island, AS · 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
10/30
14 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
14 declarations (0.9x state county average of 15)
Major Disaster Share Very High
21/25
12 of 14 declarations are major disasters (86%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Swains Island
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. American Samoa Avg
-7%
State avg: 15.0
vs. National Avg
-32%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.3
Over 54 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Swains Island
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
86%
Mostly major
County FIPS
60040
AS state code
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 5
Typhoon 3
Biological 2
Severe Storm 1
Earthquake 1
Flood 1
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Swains Island's federal record, 36% 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 - 12 85.7%
of all 14 declarations
Emergency - 2 14.3%
of all 14 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1981 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1966 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 14 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 14 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4537 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-17 |
| 3465 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4357 | TROPICAL STORM GITA | DR | Hurricane | 2018-03-02 |
| 3397 | TROPICAL STORM GITA | EM | Hurricane | 2018-02-11 |
| 4192 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-09-10 |
| 1859 | EARTHQUAKE,TSUNAMI, AND FLOODING | DR | Earthquake | 2009-09-29 |
| 1582 | TC OLAF, INCLUD. HIGH WINDS AND SURF AND HEAVY RAINFALL | DR | Typhoon | 2005-02-18 |
| 927 | HURRICANE VAL | DR | Hurricane | 1991-12-13 |
| 855 | HURRICANE OFA | DR | Hurricane | 1990-02-09 |
| 785 | HURRICANE TUSI | DR | Hurricane | 1987-01-24 |
| 637 | TYPHOON ESAU | DR | Typhoon | 1981-03-24 |
| 610 | FLOODING, MUDSLIDES & LANDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 1979-11-09 |
| 449 | DROUGHT | DR | Drought | 1974-09-30 |
| 213 | TYPHOON & HIGH TIDES | DR | Typhoon | 1966-02-10 |
Storm Events in American Samoa
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Swains Island.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | 84 | 1 | 3 | $13.6M |
| Heavy Rain | 62 | 0 | 0 | $1.8M |
| High Surf | 41 | 10 | 2 | $285.0K |
| High Wind | 27 | 0 | 0 | $1.1M |
| Strong Wind | 26 | 0 | 0 | $138.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
Data-matched county comparisons
Swains Island's closest FEMA peer: Decatur County, IA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields for Swains Island. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Swains Island shows 14 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Swains Island: 12 of 14 of its declarations are Major.
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 Swains Island - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 14 FEMA declarations, Swains Island 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 Swains Island?
The most common disaster type in Swains Island is Hurricane, with 5 declarations. Other disaster types include Typhoon (3), Biological (2), Severe Storm (1).
How does Swains Island's FEMA declaration record compare with the American Samoa average?
The typical American Samoa county has 15.0 FEMA declaration records; Swains Island has 14, or 7% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 32% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Swains Island received?
Swains Island has received 12 major disaster declarations, representing 86% of all 14 disaster declarations.
What was the worst year for disasters in Swains Island?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Swains Island was 2018, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1966 to 2020.
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.
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 Swains Island
Against a American Samoa county mean of 15 declarations, Swains Island, AS records 14, or 7% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (12 of 14) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. American Samoa overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 20% of recorded county totals, but its own American Samoa benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. Most-disaster rankings
- With no NFIP county row, the declaration register and modeled NRI remain distinct evidence rather than substitutes for a claims history. 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.