1,132
FEMA disaster declarations are represented across 56 states and territories in this portal's current state totals.
National data study · FEMA · NOAA · National Risk Index
U.S. natural disaster statistics, with the source trail intact
A citable national view of the federal disaster, storm, and hazard-risk records behind PlainHazard. Each figure below is computed from the live portal database, not typed into a static report.
How this data is assembled
According to FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, NOAA's Storm Events Database, and FEMA's National Risk Index, these sources measure distinct parts of the disaster picture. PlainHazard keeps their figures separate, labels its own aggregates, and links each local page back to its federal-source context. Read the methodology and source notes before using a number outside its stated scope.
Key findings
What the national records show
California: 162
California accounts for 14.3% of the declarations in this state-level total, a count of federal actions rather than a measure of every damaging event.
835,622
NOAA storm-event records in the portal report 12,810 fatalities. NOAA event records and FEMA declarations answer different questions and are not combined into one incident count.
17
counties are rated “Very High” risk in FEMA's National Risk Index; 179 of 3,232 are rated Relatively High or Very High.
Expected annual loss by hazard
FEMA's National Risk Index models expected annual loss, not a forecast of the next disaster or a measure of personal safety. Across the county records in this portal, it totals $153.8B. Earthquake is the largest modeled hazard total at $26.5B.
National expected annual loss by hazard
FEMA National Risk Index model, summed across county records
- Earthquake
Earthquake
$26.5 B / year
- Hurricane
Hurricane
$14.2 B / year
- Tornado
Tornado
$11.5 B / year
- Cold Wave $9.9
Cold Wave
$9.9 B / year
- Heat Wave $7.1
Heat Wave
$7.1 B / year
- Wildfire $3.9
Wildfire
$3.9 B / year
Sources, scope, and reuse
PlainHazard combines three public federal datasets without treating them as interchangeable: FEMA OpenFEMA disaster declarations, the NOAA Storm Events Database, and FEMA's National Risk Index. See the methodology for source scope and refresh details, browse the state profiles and county profiles for local context, or cite this report using the stable path below. The report's derived presentation is released under CC0; the upstream source datasets retain their own terms.
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. This national report aggregates the same source fields used on PlainHazard's state and county pages. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-07-25.