National ranking · FEMA OpenFEMA
Most disaster-prone U.S. states
All 56 U.S. states and territories ranked by total FEMA disaster declarations. California leads the country, the most federally-declared disasters of any state.
- California
- Most disaster-prone
- 130
- California declarations
- 1,017
- Declarations nationwide
- 56
- States & territories
Top 12 states by FEMA disaster declarations
Wider bars = more federally-declared disasters on record
- California
California
130 declarations
- Washington
Washington
94 declarations
- Oregon
Oregon
68 declarations
- Oklahoma
Oklahoma
57 declarations
- Arizona 36
Arizona
36 declarations
- Texas 34
Texas
34 declarations
- Montana 32
Montana
32 declarations
- Nevada 31
Nevada
31 declarations
- Florida 29
Florida
29 declarations
- New Mexico 29
New Mexico
29 declarations
- Alaska 27
Alaska
27 declarations
- Tennessee 26
Tennessee
26 declarations
What this shows California records the most FEMA disaster declarations of any U.S. state, driven largely by fire events.
The full ranking
Every state and territory, with the major-disaster, emergency, and fire-management split.
| # | State | Total | Major | Emergencies | Fire Mgmt | Top Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California (CA) | 130 | 19 | 3 | 108 | Fire |
| 2 | Washington (WA) | 94 | 12 | 1 | 81 | Fire |
| 3 | Oregon (OR) | 68 | 5 | 0 | 63 | Fire |
| 4 | Oklahoma (OK) | 57 | 12 | 1 | 44 | Fire |
| 5 | Arizona (AZ) | 36 | 7 | 0 | 29 | Fire |
| 6 | Texas (TX) | 34 | 8 | 1 | 25 | Fire |
| 7 | Montana (MT) | 32 | 9 | 1 | 22 | Fire |
| 8 | Nevada (NV) | 31 | 1 | 0 | 30 | Fire |
| 9 | Florida (FL) | 29 | 10 | 12 | 7 | Hurricane |
| 10 | New Mexico (NM) | 29 | 5 | 1 | 23 | Fire |
| 11 | Alaska (AK) | 27 | 17 | 0 | 10 | Fire |
| 12 | Tennessee (TN) | 26 | 17 | 5 | 4 | Severe Storm |
| 13 | Colorado (CO) | 25 | 3 | 0 | 22 | Fire |
| 14 | Kansas (KS) | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | Fire |
| 15 | Louisiana (LA) | 20 | 8 | 8 | 4 | Hurricane |
| 16 | Kentucky (KY) | 19 | 13 | 4 | 2 | Severe Storm |
| 17 | Idaho (ID) | 19 | 3 | 0 | 16 | Fire |
| 18 | Utah (UT) | 19 | 2 | 0 | 17 | Fire |
| 19 | New York (NY) | 17 | 11 | 5 | 1 | Hurricane |
| 20 | North Carolina (NC) | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | Fire |
| 21 | Mississippi (MS) | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | Severe Storm |
| 22 | Wyoming (WY) | 16 | 3 | 0 | 13 | Fire |
| 23 | Nebraska (NE) | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | Severe Storm |
| 24 | South Dakota (SD) | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | Fire |
| 25 | South Carolina (SC) | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | Hurricane |
| 26 | Vermont (VT) | 13 | 10 | 3 | 0 | Flood |
| 27 | Georgia (GA) | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | Tropical Storm |
| 28 | North Dakota (ND) | 12 | 10 | 0 | 2 | Severe Storm |
| 29 | Hawaii (HI) | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | Fire |
| 30 | West Virginia (WV) | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | Flood |
| 31 | Missouri (MO) | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | Severe Storm |
| 32 | Arkansas (AR) | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | Severe Storm |
| 33 | Alabama (AL) | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | Severe Storm |
| 34 | Maine (ME) | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | Severe Storm |
| 35 | New Hampshire (NH) | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 36 | Virginia (VA) | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | Severe Storm |
| 37 | Minnesota (MN) | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | Flood |
| 38 | Connecticut (CT) | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 39 | Iowa (IA) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | Severe Storm |
| 40 | Puerto Rico (PR) | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | Flood |
| 41 | New Jersey (NJ) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Hurricane |
| 42 | Rhode Island (RI) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 43 | Illinois (IL) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Flood |
| 44 | U.S. Virgin Islands (VI) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | Tropical Storm |
| 45 | Massachusetts (MA) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Hurricane |
| 46 | Indiana (IN) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Winter Storm |
| 47 | Michigan (MI) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Severe Ice Storm |
| 48 | Northern Mariana Islands (MP) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Tropical Storm |
| 49 | Guam (GU) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Tropical Storm |
| 50 | Maryland (MD) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Winter Storm |
| 51 | District of Columbia (DC) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Other |
| 52 | Wisconsin (WI) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Flood |
| 53 | Pennsylvania (PA) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Tropical Storm |
| 54 | American Samoa (AS) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Severe Storm |
| 55 | Delaware (DE) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Hurricane |
| 56 | Ohio (OH) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Tornado |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on FEMA federal disaster data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.