FEMA Records
28
High volume
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Victoria County, TX
28 FEMA disaster declarations (1967-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 28
- FEMA declarations
- 17
- Major disasters
- 86
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Victoria County. Its 28 FEMA declarations are 34% above the Texas county mean and exceed the count for 81% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 14%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 14%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 28
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 744
- 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 48469 · Victoria County 28 declarations · rank 553/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 28
- MAJOR-MID 61%
- RANK-MID #553
- PHOTO-FINISH Loíza
- NRI-MID 86
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-ABOVE +34%
Nearest declaration peer: Loíza, PR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
Victoria County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Victoria County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Hertford · near 28
Hertford · near
28 declarations
- Loíza · near 28
Loíza · near
28 declarations
- Maunabo · near 28
Maunabo · near
28 declarations
- Victoria · this county 28
Victoria · this county
28 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Victoria County carries 28 FEMA declaration records, ranked 553 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Victoria County ranks in the national declaration registry
Victoria County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Victoria County
28 Top 19% higher than 81% 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
Victoria County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Victoria County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 744 claims and $11.3M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $15.1K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Victoria County's 28 federal records stand 34% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 86.5/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $53.4M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. 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 8 years here, based on 48 historical events on record.
70 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Victoria County, TX · 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
20/30
28 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.4x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
17/25
28 declarations (1.3x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
17 of 28 declarations are major disasters (61%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Victoria County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Victoria 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
61%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
86
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Victoria 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 8 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 2.7 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 48 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 8.8 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 260 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 58 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,786 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 12 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 13
Severe Storm 4
Flood 4
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Fire 2
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Victoria County's federal record, 46% 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 - 17 60.7%
of all 28 declarations
Emergency - 11 39.3%
of all 28 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 3 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 28 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 28 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4798 | HURRICANE BERYL | DR | Hurricane | 2024-07-09 |
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 3540 | TROPICAL STORMS MARCO AND LAURA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-24 |
| 3530 | HURRICANE HANNA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-07-26 |
| 4485 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3458 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4332 | HURRICANE HARVEY | DR | Hurricane | 2017-08-25 |
| 4223 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-29 |
| 3294 | HURRICANE IKE | EM | Hurricane | 2008-09-10 |
| 3290 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-29 |
| 1780 | HURRICANE DOLLY | DR | Hurricane | 2008-07-24 |
| 3277 | HURRICANE DEAN | EM | Hurricane | 2007-08-18 |
| 1709 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-06-29 |
| 1624 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-11 |
| 1606 | HURRICANE RITA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-09-24 |
| 3261 | HURRICANE RITA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-21 |
| 3216 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-02 |
| 1479 | HURRICANE CLAUDETTE | DR | Hurricane | 2003-07-17 |
| 1425 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2002-07-04 |
Show 8 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3142 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARDS | EM | Fire | 1999-09-01 |
| 1257 | TX-FLOODING 10/18/98 | DR | Flood | 1998-10-21 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 1041 | SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1994-10-18 |
| 3113 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | EM | Drought | 1993-09-10 |
| 930 | SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS | DR | Flood | 1991-12-26 |
| 900 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1991-04-12 |
| 232 | HURRICANE BEULAH | DR | Hurricane | 1967-09-28 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Victoria County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 14,072 | 0 | 15 | $7.4B |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 10,293 | 41 | 141 | $369.9M |
| Drought | 7,032 | 0 | 0 | $86.0K |
| Flash Flood | 4,728 | 338 | 24 | $47.6B |
| Heat | 4,079 | 119 | 405 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
744
Total Paid
$11.3M
Avg Per Claim
$15.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 86.5/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$53.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Drought Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Very Low
Earthquake Very 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: 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 Victoria 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
Victoria County's closest FEMA peer: Lewis County, NY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Victoria County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Victoria County shows 28 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Victoria County: 17 of 28 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Victoria County: NRI composite 86.5 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Victoria County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Victoria 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: 86.5 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 28. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Victoria County's NFIP claims file (744 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 Victoria County?
The most common disaster type in Victoria County is Hurricane, with 13 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (4), Flood (4), Severe Ice Storm (2).
How does Victoria County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
FEMA lists 28 declaration records for Victoria County. That is 34% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. Its count is also 35% 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 Victoria County received?
Victoria County has received 17 major disaster declarations, representing 61% of all 28 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Victoria County filed?
Victoria County has 744 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $11.3M in payments, with an average of $15.1K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Victoria County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Victoria County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1967 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Victoria County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Victoria County, Texas has an overall risk score of 86.5 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $53.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Victoria County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Victoria County is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively High) and Drought (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 8 years, drawn from 48 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Victoria County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events