FEMA Records
15
Below median
Texas · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Zapata County, TX
15 FEMA disaster declarations (1967-2021), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 15
- FEMA declarations
- 7
- Major disasters
- 31
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Zapata County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 15 declarations, more than 23% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 28% below the Texas county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 31%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 31%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 15
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 7
- 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 48505 · Zapata County 15 declarations · rank 2466/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-LIGHT · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 15
- MAJOR-LIGHT 47%
- RANK-LOWER #2,466
- PHOTO-FINISH Polk
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -28%
Nearest declaration peer: Polk, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Texas state profile
Zapata County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Zapata County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Flathead · near 15
Flathead · near
15 declarations
- Murray · near 15
Murray · near
15 declarations
- Polk · near 15
Polk · near
15 declarations
- Zapata · this county 15
Zapata · this county
15 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Zapata County carries 15 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2466 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Zapata County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Zapata County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Zapata County
15 23rd percentile higher than 23% 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
Zapata County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Zapata County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 31.4/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $5.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Very High) and community resilience (Very Low) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. 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 2.2 times per year here, based on 42 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 7 claims and $97.6K 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.
Start with the state benchmark: a Texas county averages 20.9 federal declaration records, while Zapata County has 15. The gap is 28% 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.
45 /100
Historical Activity Index
Moderate historical activity
Zapata 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) Moderate
11/30
15 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
9/25
15 declarations (0.7x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share Moderate
12/25
7 of 15 declarations are major disasters (47%)
Hazard Diversity High
13/20
5 different disaster types declared in Zapata County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Zapata 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
47%
Mixed major share
NRI risk score
31
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Zapata 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 2.2 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 286 years |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 14 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 4.9 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 79 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 4,255 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Tornado | Very Low | roughly once every 21 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 67 years |
| Lightning | Very Low | an average of 35 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 7
Fire 3
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Severe Storm 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Zapata County's federal record, 47% 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 - 7 46.7%
of all 15 declarations
Emergency - 7 46.7%
of all 15 declarations
Fire Management - 1 6.7%
of all 15 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 15 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 15 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4586 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-19 |
| 3554 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-14 |
| 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 |
| 1931 | HURRICANE ALEX | DR | Hurricane | 2010-08-03 |
| 3313 | TROPICAL STORM ALEX | EM | Hurricane | 2010-06-29 |
| 3284 | WILDFIRES | EM | Fire | 2008-03-14 |
| 2749 | LA PERLA FIRE | FM | Fire | 2008-03-04 |
| 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 |
| 1239 | TROPICAL STORM CHARLEY | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-08-26 |
| 232 | HURRICANE BEULAH | DR | Hurricane | 1967-09-28 |
Storm Events in Texas
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Zapata 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
7
Total Paid
$97.6K
Avg Per Claim
$13.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 31.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$5.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Cold Wave Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Tornado Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Lightning Very Low
Strong Wind 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: 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 Zapata 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 Hurricane. 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
Zapata County's closest FEMA peer: Carson City (city), NV
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Zapata County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Zapata County shows 15 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Zapata County: 7 of 15 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Zapata County: NRI composite 31.4 (Very 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 Zapata County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Zapata 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: 31.4 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 15. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 15 FEMA declarations, Zapata 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).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Zapata County?
The most common disaster type in Zapata County is Hurricane, with 7 declarations. Other disaster types include Fire (3), Severe Ice Storm (2), Biological (2).
How does Zapata County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Texas average?
The typical Texas county has 20.9 FEMA declaration records; Zapata County has 15, or 28% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 28% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Zapata County received?
Zapata County has received 7 major disaster declarations, representing 47% of all 15 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Zapata County filed?
Zapata County has 7 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $97.6K in payments, with an average of $13.9K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Zapata County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Zapata County was 2005, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1967 to 2021.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Zapata County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Zapata County, Texas has an overall risk score of 31.4 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $5.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Zapata County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Zapata County as of the latest release is Cold Wave (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Wildfire (Relatively Low) and Hurricane (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts cold wave here at an average of 2.2 times per year, drawn from 42 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 Zapata County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Texas profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events