FEMA Records
24
Above median
New York · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
24 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Snowstorm.
The verdict
Wyoming County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 24 declarations, more than 66% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 2% below the New York county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 41%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
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.
Wyoming County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
24 Top 34% higher than 66% 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
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 113 paid claims, totaling $974.8K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $8.6K 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 Wyoming County has 24. The gap is 2% 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's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 41.3/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Relatively Low (roughly $15.0M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Relatively Low) and community resilience (Very High) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Riverine Flooding, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1 time per year here, based on 28 historical events on record.
Nationally, Wyoming County's 24 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within New York, however, the count is 2% below the county mean. 13 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Snowstorm, appearing 8 times. The full 51-year record averages 0.5 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Wyoming 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
24 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.2x national county average)
24 declarations (1.0x state county average of 25)
13 of 24 declarations are major disasters (54%)
9 different disaster types declared in Wyoming County
Activity Band
High
vs. New York Avg
-2%
State avg: 24.5
vs. National Avg
+16%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.5
Over 51 years
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
FEMA Records
24
Above median
Major Disaster share
54%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
41
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1 time per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 43 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 1.2 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 31 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 33 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 13 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,923 years |
| Avalanche | Very Low | roughly once every 100 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 1 modeled event-day per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 79,823 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Snowstorm is the most frequent declaration type on Wyoming County's record, 33% of its declarations. Snow-related declarations work on a narrower basis than most other hazards: they are generally issued to reimburse the cost of snow removal and emergency protective measures, rather than to repair destroyed property.
The qualifying test is unusual too. FEMA assesses snowfall against record levels for the affected area, so the same storm total can qualify in a county where it is historically extreme and not qualify a few hundred miles north where it is an ordinary winter. A low snowstorm declaration count is therefore not evidence of mild winters.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
of all 24 declarations
of all 24 declarations
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 2 | |
| 1998 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 2 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
How the 24 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 24 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3589 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2022-11-20 |
| 4480 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-20 |
| 3434 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4204 | SEVERE WINTER STORM, SNOWSTORM, AND FLOODING | DR | Snowstorm | 2014-12-22 |
| 3351 | HURRICANE SANDY | EM | Hurricane | 2012-10-28 |
| 1993 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | DR | Flood | 2011-06-10 |
| 3262 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-30 |
| 1534 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2004-08-03 |
| 1486 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-08-29 |
| 3186 | POWER OUTAGE | EM | Other | 2003-08-23 |
| 3170 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 2001-12-31 |
| 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 |
| 3136 | SNOW | EM | Snowstorm | 1999-01-15 |
| 1233 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-07-07 |
| 1222 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-06-16 |
| 1095 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1996-01-24 |
| 3107 | SEVERE BLIZZARD | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-17 |
| 898 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Snowstorm | 1991-03-21 |
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 527 | SNOWSTORMS | DR | Snowstorm | 1977-02-05 |
| 3027 | SNOWSTORMS | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-01-29 |
| 494 | ICE STORM,SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 1976-03-19 |
| 338 | TROPICAL STORM AGNES | DR | Flood | 1972-06-23 |
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Wyoming 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 NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
Total Claims
113
Total Paid
$974.8K
Avg Per Claim
$8.6K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 41.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$15.0M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Very High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
Riverine Flooding is the model's measure of a watershed draining more water than its channel can carry. Unlike flash flooding it usually builds over days and is forecast in advance, which makes it the hazard where warning time most reliably converts into reduced harm.
Worth noting for Wyoming County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Riverine Flooding carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Low), while the county's declaration history is led by Snowstorm. 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
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Wyoming County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Wyoming County shows 24 FEMA declarations, led by Snowstorm.
Wyoming County: 13 of 24 of its declarations are Major.
Wyoming County: NRI composite 41.3 (Very Low).
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 Wyoming County - capture-dated entries only.
Understanding disaster data
Wyoming County's NFIP claims file (113 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
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 Wyoming County
Against a New York county mean of 25 declarations, Wyoming County, NY records 24, or 2% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
A below-average federal record is not a safety guarantee. Use National Weather Service alerts and local emergency-management notices for present conditions, not this historical comparison.
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.
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.