FEMA Records
13
Low volume
Wisconsin · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Wood County, WI
13 FEMA disaster declarations (1969-2020), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Flood.
- 13
- FEMA declarations
- 10
- Major disasters
- 76
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Flood
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Wood County. Its 13 FEMA declarations are 6% above the Wisconsin county mean and exceed the count for 17% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 24%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 24%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 13
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 48
- 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.
How does Wood County compare?
Wood County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
13 17th percentile higher than 17% 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 · 2026-08-03
Wood County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Wisconsin county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Wood County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $19.7M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Cold Wave 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 Wood County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 75.9/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $39.4M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Cold Wave stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 8.4 times per year here, based on 159 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 13 entries for Wood County, including 10 Major Disaster records, 6% above the Wisconsin county mean. Across the 51-year span, that works out to 0.3 declarations a year. Flood leads the file with 4 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 48 claims and $726.9K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Wood County's 13 federal records stand 6% above the Wisconsin county mean of 12.3. 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.
56 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Wood County, WI · 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
9/30
13 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.6x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
13 declarations (1.1x state county average of 12)
Major Disaster Share Very High
19/25
10 of 13 declarations are major disasters (77%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Wood County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Wisconsin Avg
+6%
State avg: 12.3
vs. National Avg
-37%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.3
Over 51 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Wood 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
77%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
76
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Wood 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 8.4 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.7 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 33 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 15 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 1.4 modeled event-days per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 6,553 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 2,551 years |
| Drought | Very Low | 0.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | No Rating | roughly once every 174 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Flood 4
Severe Storm 4
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
Tornado 1
Drought 1
What Flood declarations mean here
Flood is the most frequent declaration type on Wood County's record, 31% 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 76.9%
of all 13 declarations
Emergency - 3 23.1%
of all 13 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 13 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 13 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4520 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-04 |
| 3454 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4459 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-08-27 |
| 1944 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-10-21 |
| 3249 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-13 |
| 1526 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-06-18 |
| 1432 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2002-09-10 |
| 1429 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-07-19 |
| 1369 | FLOODING, SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Flood | 2001-05-11 |
| 994 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1993-07-02 |
| 3014 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1976-06-17 |
| 376 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-04-27 |
| 260 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1969-05-01 |
Storm Events in Wisconsin
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Wood County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 3,504 | 5 | 23 | $45.0M |
| Hail | 2,620 | 0 | 0 | $57.8M |
| Winter Weather | 1,939 | 43 | 152 | $2.1M |
| Winter Storm | 1,338 | 15 | 86 | $2.3M |
| Flood | 740 | 12 | 4 | $115.6M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
48
Total Paid
$726.9K
Avg Per Claim
$15.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 75.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$39.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Drought Very Low
Hurricane 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: Cold Wave
Cold Wave measures exposure to extreme cold rather than to snow. Its harm is concentrated in health effects, burst infrastructure and energy demand spikes, and it falls hardest where the building stock and the grid were not built with sustained cold in mind.
Worth noting for Wood County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Cold Wave 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
Wood County's closest FEMA peer: Decatur County, GA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Wood County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Similar modeled NRI score
Wood County: NRI composite 75.9 (Relatively Low).
Similar Major-disaster share
Wood County: 10 of 13 of its declarations are Major.
Closest declaration profiles
Wood County shows 13 FEMA declarations, led by Flood.
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 Wood County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 13 FEMA declarations, Wood County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Wood County?
The most common disaster type in Wood County is Flood, with 4 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (4), Biological (2), Hurricane (1).
How does Wood County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Wisconsin average?
FEMA lists 13 declaration records for Wood County. That is 6% above the Wisconsin county mean of 12.3. Its count is also 37% 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 Wood County received?
Wood County has received 10 major disaster declarations, representing 77% of all 13 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Wood County filed?
Wood County has 48 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $726.9K in payments, with an average of $15.1K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Wood County?
No. In Wood County, Cold Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $19.7M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Wood County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Wood County was 2002, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1969 to 2020.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Wood County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Wood County, Wisconsin has an overall risk score of 75.9 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Low, while community resilience comes in at Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $39.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Wood County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Wood County is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hail (Relatively Moderate) and Tornado (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 8.4 times per year, drawn from 159 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.
What this means for Wood County
Wood County, WI has 13 federal declaration records, 6% more than the Wisconsin county mean of 12; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 10 of 13 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Wisconsin overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Wisconsin mean and the totals for 17% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- A short NFIP claims file cannot establish low flood exposure; the data guide explains the limits of each federal measure. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.