FEMA Records
23
Above median
California · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Tulare County, CA
23 FEMA disaster declarations (1967-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 23
- FEMA declarations
- 15
- Major disasters
- 97
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Tulare County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 23 declarations, more than 62% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 19% below the California county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 3%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 3%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 23
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 365
- 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 Tulare County compare?
Tulare 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
Tulare County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the California county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Tulare County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $130.3M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Heat Wave 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 Tulare County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 365 paid claims, totaling $4.3M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $11.8K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a California county averages 28.5 federal declaration records, while Tulare County has 23. The gap is 19% 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 sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 97.0/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $214.1M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Very Low, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Heat Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 5.4 modeled event-days per year here, based on 58 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
Nationally, Tulare County's 23 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within California, however, the count is 19% below the county mean. 15 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Flood, appearing 8 times. The full 56-year record averages 0.4 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
61 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Tulare County, CA · 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 Moderate
10/25
23 declarations (0.8x state county average of 29)
Major Disaster Share High
16/25
15 of 23 declarations are major disasters (65%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Tulare County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. California Avg
-19%
State avg: 28.5
vs. National Avg
+11%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.4
Over 56 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Tulare 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
65%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
97
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Tulare 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heat Wave | Relatively High | 5.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 3 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 204 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 17 years |
| Landslide | Relatively High | an average of 70 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 16 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 8 years |
| Avalanche | Relatively High | roughly once every 10 years |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 83 modeled event-days per year |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 2,000 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 26 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 13 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 8
Severe Storm 4
Fire 4
Freezing 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Tulare County's record, 35% of its declarations. Federal flood declarations cover two mechanisms that behave very differently: riverine flooding, which builds over days as a watershed drains and is usually forecast well in advance, and flash flooding, which can arrive in under an hour from rainfall that fell somewhere upstream.
Flood is also the one hazard class where a second federal dataset exists for the same events. The National Flood Insurance Program records what was actually paid on insured losses, so it measures a narrower thing than the declaration count: uninsured damage, and flooding outside mapped special flood hazard areas, never enters it. Reading the two together is more informative than either alone.
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 - 15 65.2%
of all 23 declarations
Emergency - 5 21.7%
of all 23 declarations
Fire Management - 3 13.0%
of all 23 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1978 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1969 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4699 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-04-03 |
| 3592 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2023-03-10 |
| 4683 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Flood | 2023-01-14 |
| 3591 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | EM | Flood | 2023-01-09 |
| 5373 | SQF FIRE COMPLEX | FM | Fire | 2020-09-13 |
| 4558 | WILDFIRES | DR | Fire | 2020-08-22 |
| 4482 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-22 |
| 3428 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5205 | PIER FIRE | FM | Fire | 2017-09-05 |
| 5150 | CEDAR FIRE | FM | Fire | 2016-08-22 |
| 1952 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING, AND DEBRIS AND MUD FLOWS | DR | Flood | 2011-01-26 |
| 1689 | SEVERE FREEZE | DR | Freezing | 2007-03-13 |
| 3248 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1267 | CA-CITRUS CROP DAMAGE 2/2/99 | DR | Freezing | 1999-02-09 |
| 1203 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-02-09 |
| 1155 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, MUD AND LANDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-01-04 |
| 1046 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FLOODING LANDSLIDES, MUD FLOW | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-03-12 |
| 979 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, MUD & LAND SLIDES, & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-02-03 |
| 894 | SEVERE FREEZE | DR | Freezing | 1991-02-11 |
| 547 | COASTAL STORMS, MUDSLIDES & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1978-02-15 |
Show 3 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3023 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-20 |
| 253 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-01-26 |
| 223 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1967-01-02 |
Storm Events in California
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Tulare County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind | 4,070 | 13 | 27 | $228.2M |
| Flood | 3,132 | 26 | 25 | $985.1M |
| Heavy Snow | 1,814 | 6 | 0 | $1.6M |
| Dense Fog | 1,605 | 52 | 148 | $2.8M |
| Drought | 1,421 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
365
Total Paid
$4.3M
Avg Per Claim
$11.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 97.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$214.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Heat Wave Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Avalanche Relatively High
Drought Relatively Moderate
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Cold Wave 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: Heat Wave
Heat Wave is measured in event-days per year rather than discrete events, and it is the hazard whose harm is most consistently undercounted: its toll is health and mortality, concentrated among people without cooling, rather than visible damage to property.
Worth noting for Tulare County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Heat Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Flood. 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
Tulare County's closest FEMA peer: Scott County, AR
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Tulare County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Tulare County shows 23 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Tulare County: 15 of 23 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Tulare County: NRI composite 97.0 (Relatively High).
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 Tulare County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Tulare County's NFIP claims file (365 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 Tulare County?
The most common disaster type in Tulare County is Flood, with 8 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (4), Fire (4), Freezing (3).
How does Tulare County's FEMA declaration record compare with the California average?
The typical California county has 28.5 FEMA declaration records; Tulare County has 23, or 19% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 11% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Tulare County received?
Tulare County has received 15 major disaster declarations, representing 65% of all 23 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Tulare County filed?
Tulare County has 365 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $4.3M in payments, with an average of $11.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Tulare County?
No. In Tulare County, Heat Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $130.3M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Tulare County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Tulare County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1967 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Tulare County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Tulare County, California has an overall risk score of 97.0 out of 100 (Relatively High). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively High; on community resilience, Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $214.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Tulare County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Tulare County as of the latest release is Heat Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Riverine Flooding (Relatively High) and Wildfire (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts heat wave here at 5.4 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 58 historical events on record. 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 Tulare County
Against a California county mean of 29 declarations, Tulare County, CA records 23, or 19% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (15 of 23) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. California overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 62% of recorded county totals, but its own California 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.