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The counties with the most FEMA disaster declarations

FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), 1953 to 2026-10-02

Los Angeles County, CA has been named in more FEMA disaster declarations than any other county since 1953 (88, 35 of them major disasters), followed by Riverside County, CA (66) and San Bernardino County, CA (61).

By  · Updated  · How this was measured

The 50 counties named most

  1. Los Angeles County, CA 88 (35 DR)
  2. Riverside County, CA 66 (31 DR)
  3. San Bernardino County, CA 61 (30 DR)
  4. Ascension Parish, LA 58 (39 DR)
  5. Collier County, FL 54 (31 DR)
  6. Lafourche Parish, LA 54 (34 DR)
  7. St. Martin Parish, LA 54 (34 DR)
  8. Washoe County, NV 54 (7 DR)
  9. Chelan County, WA 53 (16 DR)
  10. Terrebonne Parish, LA 53 (32 DR)
  11. Ventura County, CA 53 (29 DR)
  12. Livingston Parish, LA 52 (33 DR)
  13. Oklahoma County, OK 52 (30 DR)
  14. St. Charles Parish, LA 52 (33 DR)
  15. San Diego County, CA 51 (27 DR)
  16. Jefferson Parish, LA 50 (31 DR)
  17. Manatee County, FL 50 (30 DR)
  18. St. Tammany Parish, LA 50 (31 DR)
  19. Assumption Parish, LA 49 (30 DR)
  20. Bay County, FL 49 (31 DR)
  21. Breathitt County, KY 49 (40 DR)
  22. Lawrence County, KY 49 (40 DR)
  23. Magoffin County, KY 49 (40 DR)
  24. Owsley County, KY 49 (42 DR)
  25. Rapides Parish, LA 49 (26 DR)
  26. St. Mary Parish, LA 49 (27 DR)
  27. Clay County, KY 48 (39 DR)
  28. Floyd County, KY 48 (38 DR)
  29. Johnson County, KY 48 (39 DR)
  30. Sarasota County, FL 48 (29 DR)
  31. St. Bernard Parish, LA 48 (29 DR)
  32. Tangipahoa Parish, LA 48 (29 DR)
  33. Creek County, OK 47 (25 DR)
  34. East Baton Rouge Parish, LA 47 (29 DR)
  35. Gulf County, FL 47 (31 DR)
  36. Hillsborough County, FL 47 (27 DR)
  37. Iberville Parish, LA 47 (29 DR)
  38. Logan County, OK 47 (34 DR)
  39. Monroe County, FL 47 (27 DR)
  40. Perry County, KY 47 (40 DR)
  41. Pike County, KY 47 (37 DR)
  42. Pointe Coupee Parish, LA 47 (26 DR)
  43. Franklin County, FL 46 (30 DR)
  44. St. John the Baptist Parish, LA 46 (27 DR)
  45. St. Landry Parish, LA 46 (27 DR)
  46. Vermilion Parish, LA 46 (26 DR)
  47. Brevard County, FL 45 (26 DR)
  48. Catahoula Parish, LA 45 (27 DR)
  49. Lee County, FL 45 (26 DR)
  50. Lincoln County, OK 45 (34 DR)

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Which states hold the top 50?

7 states and territories have a county in the top 50; Louisiana has the most (20).

  1. Louisiana 20
  2. Florida 10
  3. Kentucky 9
  4. California 5
  5. Oklahoma 4
  6. Nevada 1
  7. Washington 1

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026.

How this was measured

Each disaster number counted once for every county it names, whatever the type of declaration. A statewide declaration counts in every county it lists.

Sources

FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026.

Limits

A declaration follows a state's request and a federal decision, so the count measures federal response, not storm frequency; across 3,220 counties it rises only weakly with population (Spearman 0.22, FEMA NRI population). The 2020 COVID-19 declarations (incident type Biological) named 3,238 counties, so nearly every county count includes one or two of them.

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