FEMA Records
25
High volume
Missouri · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Vernon County, MO
25 FEMA disaster declarations (1976-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 25
- FEMA declarations
- 18
- Major disasters
- 46
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Vernon County. Its 25 FEMA declarations are 1% above the Missouri county mean and exceed the count for 71% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 46%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 46%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 25
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 12
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 29217 · Vernon County 25 declarations · rank 901/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 25
- MAJOR-MID 72%
- RANK-LOWER #901
- PHOTO-FINISH Jefferson
- NRI-LOW 46
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +1%
Nearest declaration peer: Jefferson, AR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Missouri state profile
Vernon County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among this county and nearest peers
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Benton · near 25
Benton · near
25 declarations
- Jefferson · near 25
Jefferson · near
25 declarations
- Lafayette · near 25
Lafayette · near
25 declarations
- Vernon · this county 25
Vernon · this county
25 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Vernon County carries 25 FEMA declaration records, ranked 901 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How does Vernon County compare?
Vernon County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
25 Top 29% higher than 71% 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
Vernon County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Vernon County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $6.5M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very High), 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 Vernon County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 46.0/100 for this county (Relatively Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $14.2M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively Moderate) and community resilience (Relatively Moderate) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. 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 13 modeled event-days per year here, based on 462 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 12 claims and $93.4K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Vernon County's 25 federal records stand 1% above the Missouri county mean of 24.6. 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.
64 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Vernon County, MO · 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
18/30
25 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.2x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
25 declarations (1.0x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
18 of 25 declarations are major disasters (72%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Vernon County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Vernon 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
72%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
46
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Vernon 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drought | Relatively High | 13 modeled event-days per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 16 modeled event-days per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 6.7 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 2.3 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 11 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 679 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 2.9 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 5.1 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 55 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,377 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 15
Flood 3
Severe Ice Storm 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Drought 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Vernon County's record, 60% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
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 - 18 72.0%
of all 25 declarations
Emergency - 7 28.0%
of all 25 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 3 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 2 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 25 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 25 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4885 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2025-07-22 |
| 4872 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2025-05-21 |
| 4741 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-09-21 |
| 4490 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-26 |
| 3482 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4451 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-07-09 |
| 3374 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | EM | Flood | 2016-01-02 |
| 1961 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-03-23 |
| 3317 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-02-03 |
| 1847 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-06-19 |
| 3303 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2009-01-30 |
| 1773 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-06-25 |
| 1749 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-03-19 |
| 3281 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-12-12 |
| 1631 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-03-16 |
| 3232 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1524 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-06-11 |
| 1463 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-05-06 |
| 1412 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-05-06 |
| 1403 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2002-02-06 |
Show 5 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1054 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, HAIL, FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-06-02 |
| 1023 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-04-21 |
| 995 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-07-09 |
| 779 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-10-14 |
| 3017 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-09-24 |
Storm Events in Missouri
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Vernon County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 6,391 | 30 | 52 | $63.4M |
| Hail | 4,411 | 0 | 1 | $86.1M |
| Flash Flood | 2,399 | 47 | 14 | $406.6M |
| Flood | 1,810 | 25 | 7 | $304.6M |
| Drought | 1,033 | 0 | 350 | $53.6M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
12
Total Paid
$93.4K
Avg Per Claim
$7.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 46.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$14.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Hurricane Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Wildfire 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 Vernon County: 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 Severe Storm. 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
Vernon County's closest FEMA peer: Rappahannock County, VA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Vernon County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Vernon County shows 25 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Vernon County: 18 of 25 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Vernon County: NRI composite 46.0 (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 Vernon County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Vernon 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: 46.0 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 25. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 25 FEMA declarations, Vernon County 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).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Vernon County?
The most common disaster type in Vernon County is Severe Storm, with 15 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (3), Severe Ice Storm (3), Biological (2).
How does Vernon County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Missouri average?
FEMA lists 25 declaration records for Vernon County. That is 1% above the Missouri county mean of 24.6. Its count is also 21% 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 Vernon County received?
Vernon County has received 18 major disaster declarations, representing 72% of all 25 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Vernon County filed?
Vernon County has 12 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $93.4K in payments, with an average of $7.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Vernon County?
No. In Vernon County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $6.5M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Vernon County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Vernon County was 2008, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1976 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Vernon County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Vernon County, Missouri has an overall risk score of 46.0 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $14.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Vernon County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Vernon County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Heat Wave (Relatively Low) and Ice Storm (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 13 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 462 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.
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
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.