FEMA Records
14
Low volume
Utah · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Washington County, UT
14 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2025), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Fire.
- 14
- FEMA declarations
- 5
- Major disasters
- 93
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Fire
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Washington County. Its 14 FEMA declarations are 65% above the Utah county mean and exceed the count for 20% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 7%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 7%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 14
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 62
- 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 49053 · Washington County 14 declarations · rank 2574/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-HIGH
- DECL-MID 14
- MAJOR-LIGHT 36%
- RANK-LOWER #2,574
- PHOTO-FINISH Pulaski
- NRI-MID 93
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Fire
- VS-ST-HIGH +65%
Nearest declaration peer: Pulaski, IL (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Utah state profile
Washington County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Washington County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Franklin (city) · near 14
Franklin (city) · near
14 declarations
- Harris · near 14
Harris · near
14 declarations
- Pulaski · near 14
Pulaski · near
14 declarations
- Washington · this county 14
Washington · this county
14 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Washington County carries 14 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2574 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Washington County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Washington County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Washington County
14 20th percentile higher than 20% 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: 62 paid claims, totaling $1.2M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $19.3K 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. Washington County's 14 federal records stand 65% above the Utah county mean of 8.5. 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 92.8/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $147.7M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Wildfire stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 58 years here.
55 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Washington County, UT · 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
10/30
14 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Very High
21/25
14 declarations (1.7x state county average of 8)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
9/25
5 of 14 declarations are major disasters (36%)
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
36%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
93
Relatively Moderate
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wildfire | Relatively High | roughly once every 58 years |
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 41 times per year |
| Landslide | Relatively High | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 6.7 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 2.5 modeled event-days per year |
| Avalanche | Relatively High | roughly once every 3 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 99 years |
| Volcanic Activity | Very Low | roughly once every 5,000 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 67 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 17 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 58 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 6 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 26 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 30 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Fire 6
Flood 3
Biological 2
Coastal Storm 1
Severe Storm 1
Drought 1
What Fire declarations mean here
Fire is the most frequent declaration type on Washington County's record, 43% of its declarations. Wildfire is the one hazard here with its own dedicated federal instrument: the Fire Management Assistance Grant, which appears in this data as an FM record. An FMAG can be authorised while a fire is still burning, on a timescale of hours, because its purpose is to reimburse the cost of fighting a fire that threatens to become a major disaster.
That distinction matters when comparing counties. An FM declaration is not a presidential major disaster declaration and does not carry the same assistance programmes, so a fire-heavy county's total is not directly comparable with a hurricane-heavy county's total unless the declaration types are separated, which is why they are listed separately on this page.
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).
Fire Management - 6 42.9%
of all 14 declarations
Major Disaster - 5 35.7%
of all 14 declarations
Emergency - 3 21.4%
of all 14 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 14 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 14 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5591 | FORSYTH FIRE | FM | Fire | 2025-06-20 |
| 5321 | VEYO WEST FIRE | FM | Fire | 2020-07-13 |
| 4525 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3478 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 5130 | SADDLE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2016-06-21 |
| 4088 | SEVERE STORM AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2012-11-03 |
| 1955 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-02-11 |
| 2831 | MILL FLAT FIRE | FM | Fire | 2009-08-30 |
| 3223 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Coastal Storm | 2005-09-05 |
| 2564 | BLUE SPRINGS FIRE | FM | Fire | 2005-06-27 |
| 1576 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2005-02-01 |
| 2521 | BROOKSIDE FIRE | FM | Fire | 2004-06-16 |
| 820 | DIKE FAILURE & FLASH FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1989-01-31 |
| 3024 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-01-20 |
Storm Events in Utah
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Washington County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 1,382 | 3 | 7 | $2.2M |
| Flash Flood | 536 | 29 | 17 | $101.2M |
| High Wind | 496 | 4 | 60 | $12.7M |
| Heavy Snow | 488 | 1 | 2 | $2.4M |
| Winter Storm | 344 | 1 | 36 | $435.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
62
Total Paid
$1.2M
Avg Per Claim
$19.3K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 92.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$147.7M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Wildfire Relatively High
Lightning Very High
Landslide Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Avalanche Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Low
Volcanic Activity Very Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Hail Very Low
Cold Wave 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: Wildfire
Wildfire risk in the model reflects fuel, terrain, weather and how much development sits in the wildland-urban interface. It is one of the few hazards where the exposure is materially changed by land management and building choices, not only by where the county happens to be.
For Washington County the two measures on this page point the same way: Wildfire is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Fire 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: Cochise County, AZ
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Washington County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Washington County: NRI composite 92.8 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar Major-disaster share
Washington County: 5 of 14 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Washington County shows 14 FEMA declarations, led by Fire.
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: 92.8 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 14. 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 (62 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 Fire, with 6 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (3), Biological (2), Coastal Storm (1).
How does Washington County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Utah average?
FEMA lists 14 declaration records for Washington County. That is 65% above the Utah county mean of 8.5. Its count is also 32% 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 Washington County received?
Washington County has received 5 major disaster declarations, representing 36% of all 14 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Washington County filed?
Washington County has 62 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.2M in payments, with an average of $19.3K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Washington County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Washington County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2025.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Washington County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Washington County, Utah has an overall risk score of 92.8 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $147.7M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Washington County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Washington County as of the latest release is Wildfire (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Very High) and Landslide (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts wildfire here at roughly once every 58 years. 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 · Utah profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events