FEMA Records
17
Below median
New York · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Wayne County, NY
17 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 17
- FEMA declarations
- 10
- Major disasters
- 56
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Wayne County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 17 declarations, more than 32% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 31% below the New York county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 44%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 44%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 17
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 209
- 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 36117 · Wayne County 17 declarations · rank 2076/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 17
- MAJOR-MID 59%
- RANK-LOWER #2,076
- PHOTO-FINISH Curry
- NRI-LOW 56
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Flood
- VS-ST-BELOW -31%
Nearest declaration peer: Curry, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · New York state profile
Wayne County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Wayne County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Curry · near 17
Curry · near
17 declarations
- Murray · near 17
Murray · near
17 declarations
- Washington · near 17
Washington · near
17 declarations
- Wayne · this county 17
Wayne · this county
17 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Wayne County carries 17 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2076 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Wayne County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Wayne County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Wayne County
17 32nd percentile higher than 32% 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
Wayne County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Wayne County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $14.5M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Hail carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 Wayne County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 209 paid claims, totaling $2.5M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $11.8K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a New York county averages 24.5 federal declaration records, while Wayne County has 17. The gap is 31% 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, 56.3/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $19.0M in annualized losses), and a Relatively Low social-vulnerability profile combined with Very High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Hail carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1.5 times per year here, based on 57 historical events on record.
56 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Wayne County, NY · 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
12/30
17 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.8x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
9/25
17 declarations (0.7x state county average of 25)
Major Disaster Share High
15/25
10 of 17 declarations are major disasters (59%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Wayne County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Wayne 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
59%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
56
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Wayne 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 41 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,160 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 28 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 3.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 8,763 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 26 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 0.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 2.9 times per year |
| Coastal Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 83 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 3
Severe Storm 3
Snowstorm 3
Biological 2
Hurricane 2
Other 2
Severe Ice Storm 1
Fire 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Wayne County's record, 18% 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 - 10 58.8%
of all 17 declarations
Emergency - 7 41.2%
of all 17 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 17 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 17 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4480 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-20 |
| 3434 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4348 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2017-11-14 |
| 3351 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 3262 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-30 |
| 1564 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-10-01 |
| 1534 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-08-03 |
| 3186 | POWER OUTAGE | EM | Other | 2003-08-23 |
| 1467 | ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2003-05-12 |
| 1391 | FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS | DR | Fire | 2001-09-11 |
| 3155 | WEST NILE VIRUS | EM | Other | 2000-10-11 |
| 3138 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 1999-03-10 |
| 1244 | NY - SEVERE WX, SEPT 7, 1998 | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-09-11 |
| 3107 | SEVERE BLIZZARD | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 898 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Snowstorm | 1991-03-21 |
| 367 | HIGH WINDS, WAVE ACTION & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-03-21 |
| 338 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
Storm Events in New York
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Wayne County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 8,295 | 6 | 45 | $45.0M |
| Winter Weather | 2,261 | 7 | 17 | $705.5K |
| Flash Flood | 1,775 | 23 | 3 | $674.3M |
| Strong Wind | 1,399 | 2 | 12 | $9.2M |
| Winter Storm | 1,228 | 13 | 2 | $4.9M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
209
Total Paid
$2.5M
Avg Per Claim
$11.8K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 56.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$19.0M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding 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: Hail
Hail is among the most expensive hazards in the model relative to how little it threatens life. It concentrates on roofs, vehicles and crops, and a single severe storm can generate an insurance loss across a metropolitan area without a single injury.
Worth noting for Wayne County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Hail carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), 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
Wayne County's closest FEMA peer: Haskell County, TX
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Wayne County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Wayne County shows 17 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
Similar Major-disaster share
Wayne County: 10 of 17 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Wayne County: NRI composite 56.3 (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 Wayne County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Wayne 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: 56.3 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 17. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Wayne County's NFIP claims file (209 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 Wayne County?
The most common disaster type in Wayne County is Flood, with 3 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (3), Snowstorm (3), Biological (2).
How does Wayne County's FEMA declaration record compare with the New York average?
The typical New York county has 24.5 FEMA declaration records; Wayne County has 17, or 31% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 18% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Wayne County received?
Wayne County has received 10 major disaster declarations, representing 59% of all 17 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Wayne County filed?
Wayne County has 209 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $2.5M in payments, with an average of $11.8K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Wayne County?
No. In Wayne County, Hail has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $14.5M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Wayne County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Wayne County was 2001, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Wayne County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Wayne County, New York has an overall risk score of 56.3 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Low; on community resilience, Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $19.0M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Wayne County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Wayne County is Hail (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Ice Storm (Relatively Moderate) and Riverine Flooding (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 1.5 times per year, drawn from 57 historical events on record. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against 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 Wayne County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · New York profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events