FEMA Records
40
Very high volume
Florida · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Washington County, FL
40 FEMA disaster declarations (1975-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 40
- FEMA declarations
- 24
- Major disasters
- 59
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Washington County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 40 declarations, more than 97% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 1% below the Florida county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 41%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 41%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 40
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 184
- 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 12133 · Washington County 40 declarations · rank 111/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 40
- MAJOR-MID 60%
- RANK-UPPER #111
- PHOTO-FINISH Essex
- NRI-LOW 59
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -1%
Nearest declaration peer: Essex, MA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Florida state profile
Washington County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Washington County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Essex · near
Essex · near
40 declarations
- Okfuskee · near
Okfuskee · near
40 declarations
- Tulsa · near
Tulsa · near
40 declarations
- Washington · this county
Washington · this county
40 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Washington County carries 40 FEMA declaration records, ranked 111 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Washington County ranks in the national declaration registry
Washington County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Washington County
40 Top 3% higher than 97% 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
Washington County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Washington County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 184 paid claims, totaling $4.6M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $24.9K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Florida county averages 40.4 federal declaration records, while Washington County has 40. The gap is 1% 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 59.4/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $18.5M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Moderate social-vulnerability profile combined with Very Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Hurricane carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 4 years here, based on 76 historical events on record.
71 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Washington County, FL · 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) Very High
29/30
40 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
40 declarations (1.0x state county average of 40)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
24 of 40 declarations are major disasters (60%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Washington County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Washington 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
60%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
59
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Washington 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 Moderate | roughly once every 4 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 82 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 787 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 6.3 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 22 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,031 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 9 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 20
Severe Storm 7
Fire 4
Flood 4
Tropical Storm 3
Biological 2
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Washington County's federal record, 50% 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 - 24 60.0%
of all 40 declarations
Emergency - 14 35.0%
of all 40 declarations
Fire Management - 2 5.0%
of all 40 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2019 | 3 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 3 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
Show 5 earlier declaration years
| 1998 | 4 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 2 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 2 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 40 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 40 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4828 | HURRICANE HELENE | DR | Hurricane | 2024-09-28 |
| 3615 | TROPICAL STORM HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-24 |
| 4806 | HURRICANE DEBBY | DR | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-10 |
| 3605 | TROPICAL STORM DEBBY | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-08-03 |
| 4680 | HURRICANE NICOLE | DR | Hurricane | 2022-12-13 |
| 4673 | HURRICANE IAN | DR | Hurricane | 2022-09-29 |
| 3584 | TROPICAL STORM IAN | EM | Hurricane | 2022-09-24 |
| 3562 | TROPICAL STORM FRED | EM | Hurricane | 2021-08-16 |
| 4564 | HURRICANE SALLY | DR | Hurricane | 2020-09-23 |
| 3546 | HURRICANE SALLY | EM | Hurricane | 2020-09-15 |
| 4486 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-25 |
| 3432 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 3419 | HURRICANE DORIAN | EM | Hurricane | 2019-08-30 |
| 4399 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | DR | Hurricane | 2018-10-11 |
| 3405 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | EM | Hurricane | 2018-10-09 |
| 4337 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-10 |
| 3385 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-05 |
| 4177 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-05-06 |
| 4138 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-08-02 |
| 1831 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-04-21 |
Show 20 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3288 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | EM | Severe Storm | 2008-08-21 |
| 3220 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1595 | HURRICANE DENNIS | DR | Hurricane | 2005-07-10 |
| 1551 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-16 |
| 1545 | HURRICANE FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-04 |
| 1539 | TROPICAL STORM BONNIE AND HURRICANE CHARLEY | DR | Hurricane | 2004-08-13 |
| 1381 | TROPICAL STORM ALLISON | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-06-17 |
| 2360 | FL - CHIPOLA RIVER FIRE COMPLEX - 05/15/01 | FM | Fire | 2001-05-15 |
| 3139 | FL-FIRES 04/15/99 | EM | Fire | 1999-04-27 |
| 2255 | FL-FIRES 04/13/99 | FM | Fire | 1999-04-17 |
| 1249 | HURRICANE GEORGES | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-28 |
| 3131 | HURRICANE GRORGES | EM | Hurricane | 1998-09-25 |
| 1223 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | DR | Fire | 1998-06-18 |
| 1195 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-01-06 |
| 1069 | HURRICANE OPAL | DR | Hurricane | 1995-10-04 |
| 1035 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (TROPICAL STORM ALBERTO) | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-07-10 |
| 3114 | TROPICAL STORM ALBERTO | EM | Flood | 1994-07-08 |
| 862 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1990-04-03 |
| 484 | HIGH WINDS, HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-09-26 |
| 479 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-08-22 |
Storm Events in Florida
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Washington County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,243 | 17 | 45 | $24.8M |
| Hail | 1,012 | 0 | 0 | $564.6K |
| Heavy Rain | 865 | 2 | 3 | $200.0K |
| Flood | 826 | 9 | 0 | $2.0B |
| Tropical Storm | 767 | 92 | 6 | $4.9B |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
184
Total Paid
$4.6M
Avg Per Claim
$24.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 59.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$18.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Very Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Coastal Flooding Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Hail 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 Washington County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Moderate), 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
Washington County's closest FEMA peer: Essex County, MA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Washington County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Washington County shows 40 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Washington County: 24 of 40 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Washington County: NRI composite 59.4 (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 Washington County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Washington 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: 59.4 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 40. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Washington County's NFIP claims file (184 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 Washington County?
The most common disaster type in Washington County is Hurricane, with 20 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (7), Fire (4), Flood (4).
How does Washington County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Florida average?
The typical Florida county has 40.4 FEMA declaration records; Washington County has 40, or 1% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 93% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Washington County received?
Washington County has received 24 major disaster declarations, representing 60% of all 40 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Washington County filed?
Washington County has 184 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $4.6M in payments, with an average of $24.9K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Washington County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Washington County was 1998, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1975 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Washington County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Washington County, Florida has an overall risk score of 59.4 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Relatively Moderate and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $18.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Washington County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Washington County as of the latest release is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Tornado (Relatively Moderate) and Lightning (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 4 years, drawn from 76 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Washington County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Florida profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events