Editorial & Corrections Policy

How Pages Are Produced

PlainHazard's county, state, and hazard pages are generated from a small set of documented federal datasets: FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, the NOAA Storm Events Database, and FEMA's National Risk Index. We download each dataset directly from its source, load it into a structured database, and render every geographic page from that database. The counts, damage figures, storm tallies, and risk scores you see are taken from these federal records — not hand-typed and not estimated by us.

This is a data-publishing model: the same template renders thousands of pages so that every county and state is covered consistently. We are transparent that these data pages are produced programmatically from the source datasets rather than written individually. The editorial work goes into the pipeline (how data is sourced, normalized, and computed), the methodology, and the written guides — not into hand-authoring thousands of near-identical county pages, which would add no accuracy and invite inconsistency.

Sourcing Standards

• Primary sources only. Disaster declarations come from FEMA's OpenFEMA dataset, severe-weather events from NOAA's Storm Events Database, and risk scores from FEMA's National Risk Index — each a primary federal source, documented in our methodology.
• Attribution in context. Each data page names its dataset and time window near the figures, and links to the methodology that explains what each number means.
• Derived values are labeled. Numbers we compute ourselves — rankings, per-capita rates, and comparisons against state or national averages — are presented as our analysis of federal data, distinct from the agencies' published figures.
• No invented data. Where a value is unavailable for an area, the page says so rather than filling the gap with an estimate.

Update Cadence

FEMA disaster declarations are event-driven: a new declaration appears in the federal record when a disaster is declared, and we refresh our database to capture new declarations. The NOAA Storm Events Database is updated by NOAA on a rolling basis as events are processed, and the National Risk Index is published in versioned releases. We re-run our pipeline against these sources to pull new records and recompute the rankings and rates that depend on them. Because the underlying federal data is itself published on these cadences, our pages reflect the most recent records we have ingested, and the data window is shown on the relevant pages.

Corrections Process

If a figure on PlainHazard looks wrong, please tell us. Because our pages are generated from federal datasets, a genuine error almost always traces back to either the source data or our processing of it — so this is how we handle a report:

1. Report. Email us through the contact page with the page URL and the number that looks off.
2. Verify. We compare the figure against the originating FEMA, NOAA, or NRI record for that area and time period.
3. Fix at the source. If the value is wrong on our side, we correct it in the database and pipeline that generate the page — not just on the single page — so every affected page is fixed at once. If the figure faithfully reflects the federal source, we explain that and, where useful, add context.
4. Note it. Material corrections that change a published figure are reflected the next time the page rebuilds, with the data window shown so you can see which records a page is based on.

We aim to acknowledge data-error reports within a few business days.

Editorial Independence

PlainHazard is an independent publisher and is not affiliated with FEMA, NOAA, or any government agency. Our guides and analysis are not influenced by advertisers; advertising, where present, is clearly distinguishable from editorial content and never determines which places or rankings we show. Our rankings are computed mechanically from the federal figures, so no place can pay to move up — or down — a list.

Appropriate Use

PlainHazard is for informational and historical-reference purposes only. It summarizes past federal disaster declarations, recorded storm events, and modeled risk scores — it is not emergency guidance, a safety warning system, or a prediction of future events. Historical disaster counts and risk scores describe the past and modeled relative risk; they do not tell you whether a hazard will affect a place in the future. In an emergency, follow instructions from local officials and Ready.gov, monitor the National Weather Service, and call 911 for life-threatening situations. For decisions about preparedness, insurance, or property, consult the relevant agency and a qualified professional.