FEMA Records
20
Above median
Iowa · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Wapello County, IA
20 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 20
- FEMA declarations
- 18
- Major disasters
- 65
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Wapello County. Its 20 FEMA declarations are 4% above the Iowa county mean and exceed the count for 46% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 35%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 35%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 20
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 119
- 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 19179 · Wapello County 20 declarations · rank 1592/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-HEAVY · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 20
- MAJOR-HEAVY 90%
- RANK-LOWER #1,592
- PHOTO-FINISH Monona
- NRI-LOW 65
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-ABOVE +4%
Nearest declaration peer: Monona, IA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Iowa state profile
Wapello County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Wapello County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Cleveland · near 20
Cleveland · near
20 declarations
- Monona · near 20
Monona · near
20 declarations
- Tallapoosa · near 20
Tallapoosa · near
20 declarations
- Wapello · this county 20
Wapello · this county
20 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Wapello County carries 20 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1592 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Wapello County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Wapello County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Wapello County
20 46th percentile higher than 46% 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
Wapello County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Wapello County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $12.4M 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 Wapello County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 119 paid claims, totaling $2.4M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $20.4K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Wapello County's 20 federal records stand 4% above the Iowa county mean of 19.3. 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 65.3/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $24.1M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Moderate social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. 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 14 modeled event-days per year here, based on 371 historical events on record.
63 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Wapello County, IA · 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
14/30
20 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
20 declarations (1.0x state county average of 19)
Major Disaster Share Very High
23/25
18 of 20 declarations are major disasters (90%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Wapello County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Wapello 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
90%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
65
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Wapello 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 | 14 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 7.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.9 times per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 3.3 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 4.2 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 772 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 45 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 11 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,088 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 5 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 145 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 9
Severe Storm 7
Biological 2
Severe Ice Storm 1
Hurricane 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Wapello County's record, 45% 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 - 18 90.0%
of all 20 declarations
Emergency - 2 10.0%
of all 20 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 2 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 20 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 20 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4483 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-23 |
| 3480 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4421 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-03-23 |
| 4126 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-07-02 |
| 4119 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2013-05-31 |
| 1930 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-07-29 |
| 1763 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-05-27 |
| 1737 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2008-01-04 |
| 1727 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-09-14 |
| 1688 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-03-14 |
| 3239 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1518 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-05-25 |
| 1367 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-05-02 |
| 1230 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1998-07-02 |
| 996 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-07-09 |
| 868 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-05-26 |
| 386 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-05-23 |
| 269 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-08-14 |
| 259 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-04-25 |
| 193 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1965-04-22 |
Storm Events in Iowa
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Wapello County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 4,928 | 6 | 227 | $40.5M |
| Hail | 3,736 | 0 | 0 | $4.3M |
| Heavy Rain | 2,394 | 0 | 0 | $292.0K |
| Drought | 1,556 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 1,543 | 3 | 4 | $2.8M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
119
Total Paid
$2.4M
Avg Per Claim
$20.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 65.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$24.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Hurricane 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 Wapello 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 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
Wapello County's closest FEMA peer: Pawnee County, NE
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Wapello County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Wapello County shows 20 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Wapello County: 18 of 20 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Wapello County: NRI composite 65.3 (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 Wapello County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Wapello 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: 65.3 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 20. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Wapello County's NFIP claims file (119 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 Wapello County?
The most common disaster type in Wapello County is Flood, with 9 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (7), Biological (2), Severe Ice Storm (1).
How does Wapello County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Iowa average?
FEMA lists 20 declaration records for Wapello County. That is 4% above the Iowa county mean of 19.3. Its count is also 3% below 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 Wapello County received?
Wapello County has received 18 major disaster declarations, representing 90% of all 20 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Wapello County filed?
Wapello County has 119 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $2.4M in payments, with an average of $20.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Wapello County?
No. In Wapello County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $12.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Wapello County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Wapello County was 1969, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Wapello County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Wapello County, Iowa has an overall risk score of 65.3 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $24.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Wapello County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Wapello County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Tornado (Relatively Moderate) and Heat Wave (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 14 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 371 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 Wapello County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Iowa profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events