Which disasters does FEMA declare most?
FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), 1953 to 2026-10-02
Fire is the most common FEMA declaration of the 2020s (37%, against 10% in the 1970s). Floods made up 63% of declarations in the 1960s and 9% in the 2020s.
By PlainHazard Editorial · Updated · How this was measured
Share of declarations by type and decade
| Decade | Fire | Severe Storm | Flood | Hurricane | Tornado | Snowstorm | Biological | Severe Ice Storm | All |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 2% (2) | 3% (3) | 51% (48) | 21% (20) | 15% (14) | 0% (0) | 0% (0) | 0% (0) | 94 |
| 1960s | 2% (3) | 3% (6) | 63% (115) | 10% (18) | 10% (19) | 1% (1) | 0% (0) | 1% (1) | 184 |
| 1970s | 10% (43) | 6% (25) | 55% (242) | 2% (9) | 10% (45) | 5% (21) | 0% (0) | 1% (3) | 443 |
| 1980s | 15% (42) | 7% (21) | 47% (134) | 7% (21) | 13% (36) | 1% (3) | 0% (0) | 0% (0) | 286 |
| 1990s | 32% (234) | 25% (184) | 16% (118) | 9% (68) | 4% (28) | 7% (49) | 0% (0) | 1% (8) | 737 |
| 2000s | 45% (574) | 33% (412) | 2% (23) | 8% (102) | 1% (10) | 5% (61) | 0% (0) | 3% (35) | 1,265 |
| 2010s | 41% (487) | 27% (315) | 13% (151) | 11% (131) | 1% (15) | 3% (30) | 0% (0) | 1% (15) | 1,185 |
| 2020s | 37% (401) | 17% (178) | 9% (96) | 8% (85) | 1% (15) | 1% (6) | 16% (167) | 1% (13) | 1,075 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
How this was measured
Each disaster number counted once, under its incident type, in the decade of its first declaration date; shares are of the decade's declarations.
Sources
FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026.
Limits
Fire declarations include fire management assistance declarations, which are made quickly and in numbers during fire seasons, so fire's share reflects that program as much as fire itself. The 2020s run to the latest declaration.