FEMA Records
26
High volume
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Wharton County, TX
26 FEMA disaster declarations (1990-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 26
- FEMA declarations
- 15
- Major disasters
- 83
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Wharton County. Its 26 FEMA declarations are 24% above the Texas county mean and exceed the count for 75% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 17%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 17%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 26
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 1,166
- 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 48481 · Wharton County 26 declarations · rank 807/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-MID · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 26
- MAJOR-MID 58%
- RANK-MID #807
- PHOTO-FINISH Hunterdon
- NRI-MID 83
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-ABOVE +24%
Nearest declaration peer: Hunterdon, NJ (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
Wharton County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Wharton County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Hunterdon · near 26
Hunterdon · near
26 declarations
- Pierce · near 26
Pierce · near
26 declarations
- San Sebastián · near 26
San Sebastián · near
26 declarations
- Wharton · this county 26
Wharton · this county
26 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Wharton County carries 26 FEMA declaration records, ranked 807 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Wharton County ranks in the national declaration registry
Wharton County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Wharton County
26 Top 25% higher than 75% 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
Wharton County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Wharton County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 1,166 claims and $52.0M 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 $44.6K. 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. Wharton County's 26 federal records stand 24% 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 83.0/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $35.0M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Relatively Moderate, 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 7 years here, based on 49 historical events on record.
69 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Wharton 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
19/30
26 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
16/25
26 declarations (1.2x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
15 of 26 declarations are major disasters (58%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Wharton County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Wharton 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
58%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
83
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Wharton 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 7 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | roughly once every 2 years |
| Drought | Relatively High | 41 modeled event-days per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 14 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 66 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 921 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1 time per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,315 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 10 years |
| Coastal Flooding | No Rating | 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
Hurricane 11
Flood 4
Severe Storm 3
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Fire 2
Coastal Storm 1
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Wharton County's federal record, 42% 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 - 15 57.7%
of all 26 declarations
Emergency - 11 42.3%
of all 26 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 3 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 26 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 26 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 |
| 4269 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-04-25 |
| 4223 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-29 |
| 1791 | HURRICANE IKE | DR | Hurricane | 2008-09-13 |
| 3294 | HURRICANE IKE | EM | Hurricane | 2008-09-10 |
| 3290 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-29 |
| 3277 | HURRICANE DEAN | EM | Hurricane | 2007-08-18 |
| 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 |
| 1434 | TROPICAL STORM FAY | DR | Coastal Storm | 2002-09-26 |
| 3142 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARDS | EM | Fire | 1999-09-01 |
Show 6 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 863 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-05-02 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Wharton 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
1,166
Total Paid
$52.0M
Avg Per Claim
$44.6K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 83.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$35.0M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Drought Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Coastal Flooding No Rating
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 Wharton 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
Wharton County's closest FEMA peer: Macon County, AL
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Wharton County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Wharton County shows 26 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Wharton County: 15 of 26 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Wharton County: NRI composite 83.0 (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 Wharton County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Wharton 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: 83.0 (Relatively Moderate).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 26. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Wharton County's NFIP claims file (1,166 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 Wharton County?
The most common disaster type in Wharton County is Hurricane, with 11 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (4), Severe Storm (3), Severe Ice Storm (2).
How does Wharton County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
FEMA lists 26 declaration records for Wharton County. That is 24% above the Texas county mean of 20.9. Its count is also 25% 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 Wharton County received?
Wharton County has received 15 major disaster declarations, representing 58% of all 26 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Wharton County filed?
Wharton County has 1,166 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $52.0M in payments, with an average of $44.6K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Wharton County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Wharton County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1990 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Wharton County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Wharton County, Texas has an overall risk score of 83.0 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). On social vulnerability the county rates Very High; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $35.0M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Wharton County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Wharton County as of the latest release is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively High) and Drought (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 7 years, drawn from 49 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 Wharton County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events