Data report · OpenFEMA · Updated October 2, 2026

Where disasters keep happening

Every federal disaster declaration since 2000, by state, county and year, from FEMA’s own records. Refreshed from the source, sortable, downloadable and free to cite.

Oklahoma has the most federal disaster declarations: 60 major disasters since 2000, followed by California (52) and Kansas (50). Counted once per disaster from FEMA’s declarations; emergency and fire-management declarations are listed separately below.

Find your state Download the data (CSV)

By Sam Alishahi, independent insurance broker · Data through 2026-10-02

Since 2000

Federal major disasters, 2000–2025

1,528major disaster declarations from 2000 through 2025, not counting COVID-19

100in 2024, the most of any year since 2000 (next: 99 in 2011)

60in Oklahoma, more than any other state

28in Owsley County, Kentucky and Clay County, Kentucky, the most of any county in the country

By year

2024 set the record for major disasters

Federal major disaster declarations per year nationwide, excluding COVID-19. 2024 had 100; the average was 53 a year in 2000–2004 and 64 a year in 2021–2025. 2026 so far: 48.

By state

The 15 states with the most major disasters since 2000

Distinct federal major disaster declarations, 2000 through October 2026, excluding COVID-19. Every state and the District of Columbia had at least one.

What the data shows

2024 had more major disaster declarations than any year since 2000. FEMA declared 100 major disasters in 2024, ahead of 99 in 2011. Across 2000–2025 there were 1,528.

Storms, not headline catastrophes, drive the count. The most common incident types in major disaster declarations were severe storm (851), flood (242), hurricane (144), fire (57). A single hurricane can produce declarations in several states; a season of severe storms produces many.

Oklahoma leads the country with 60 major disasters since 2000, most often for severe storm (41), severe ice storm (8). Next are California (52), Kansas (50), Kentucky (49), Missouri (48), Tennessee (48).

Eastern Kentucky is the most-declared place in America. 8 of the 10 counties with the most major disaster declarations since 2000 are in Kentucky; Owsley County, Kentucky and Clay County, Kentucky have each been included in 28.

In the last 12 months FEMA declared 50 major disasters in 29 states (list below).

A disaster declaration opens federal aid, but it doesn’t pay to rebuild a home or business; insurance does. Flood is excluded from standard home and business policies and is bought separately (flood insurance; flood zones explained), and hurricane and windstorm losses often carry their own deductible (how those deductibles work).

The 25 most-declared counties

#	County	State	Major disasters since 2000
1	Owsley County	Kentucky	28
2	Clay County	Kentucky	28
3	Lawrence County	Kentucky	27
4	Perry County	Kentucky	26
5	Johnson County	Kentucky	26
6	Magoffin County	Kentucky	25
7	Caddo County	Oklahoma	25
8	Lee County	Kentucky	25
9	Okfuskee County	Oklahoma	25
10	Floyd County	Kentucky	25
11	Knott County	Kentucky	24
12	Estill County	Kentucky	24
13	Breathitt County	Kentucky	24
14	Logan County	Oklahoma	23
15	Okmulgee County	Oklahoma	23
16	Lafourche Parish	Louisiana	23
17	Carter County	Kentucky	23
18	Washita County	Oklahoma	23
19	St. Charles Parish	Louisiana	22
20	Lamoille County	Vermont	22
21	Lincoln County	West Virginia	22
22	Lincoln County	Oklahoma	22
23	Webster County	Missouri	22
24	Muskogee County	Oklahoma	21
25	Canadian County	Oklahoma	21

Every county: county CSV.

Major disasters in the last 12 months

Declared	State	Incident	Title	Number
Oct 2, 2026	Ohio	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, And Landslides	DR-4945
Sep 1, 2026	Kentucky	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	DR-4937
Sep 1, 2026	North Dakota	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	DR-4934
Sep 1, 2026	Missouri	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	DR-4939
Sep 1, 2026	Texas	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4935
Sep 1, 2026	South Dakota	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4938
Sep 1, 2026	South Dakota	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	DR-4941
Sep 1, 2026	Kansas	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4943
Sep 1, 2026	Kansas	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4940
Sep 1, 2026	Hawaii	Earthquake	Earthquake	DR-4936
Sep 1, 2026	Iowa	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	DR-4942
Sep 1, 2026	Colorado	Fire	Wildfires, Flooding, And Mudslides	DR-4944
Aug 25, 2026	Indiana	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4933
Aug 3, 2026	Missouri	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4929
Aug 3, 2026	Nebraska	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4928
Aug 3, 2026	West Virginia	Flood	Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	DR-4932
Aug 3, 2026	Mississippi	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Arthur	DR-4930
Jun 30, 2026	Michigan	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4925
Jun 30, 2026	Louisiana	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Arthur	DR-4927
Jun 30, 2026	New Mexico	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	DR-4918
Jun 30, 2026	Missouri	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4924
Jun 30, 2026	Kansas	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4926
Jun 30, 2026	Mississippi	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4922
Jun 30, 2026	Idaho	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	DR-4917
Jun 30, 2026	Wisconsin	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	DR-4923
Jun 30, 2026	Nebraska	Fire	Wildfires	DR-4920
Jun 30, 2026	Massachusetts	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	DR-4919
May 29, 2026	Delaware	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	DR-4916
May 29, 2026	Kentucky	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	DR-4913
May 29, 2026	Montana	Straight-Line Winds	Severe Winter Storm And Straight-Line Winds	DR-4915
May 29, 2026	Alaska	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Remnants Of Typhoon Halong	DR-4912
May 29, 2026	Arizona	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	DR-4911
May 29, 2026	Montana	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Straight-Line Winds	DR-4914
Apr 7, 2026	Washington	Flood	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	DR-4906
Apr 7, 2026	Oregon	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	DR-4907
Apr 7, 2026	South Dakota	Straight-Line Winds	Straight-Line Winds	DR-4903
Apr 7, 2026	Montana	Straight-Line Winds	Severe Winter Storm And Straight-Line Winds	DR-4902
Apr 7, 2026	Alaska	Winter Storm	Severe Storm	DR-4904
Apr 7, 2026	Idaho	Straight-Line Winds	Straight-Line Winds	DR-4905
Apr 7, 2026	South Carolina	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	DR-4908
Apr 7, 2026	Montana	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	DR-4901
Apr 7, 2026	Hawaii	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	DR-4909
Feb 18, 2026	Louisiana	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	DR-4900
Feb 6, 2026	Tennessee	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	DR-4898
Feb 6, 2026	Mississippi	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	DR-4899
Dec 19, 2025	Kansas	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	DR-4897
Oct 22, 2025	North Dakota	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	DR-4895
Oct 22, 2025	Alaska	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Remnants Of Typhoon Halong	DR-4893
Oct 22, 2025	Nebraska	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	DR-4896
Oct 22, 2025	Minnesota	Straight-Line Winds	Severe Storms And Straight-Line Winds	DR-4894

Use this chart

Free to use with a link back. Paste this into your page or article:

<a href="https://alishahiinsurance.com/disaster-declarations-by-state"><img src="https://alishahiinsurance.com/data/disaster-declarations-by-state.svg" alt="Federal major disaster declarations by state since 2000" width="720" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a><br><small>Source: <a href="https://alishahiinsurance.com/disaster-declarations-by-state">Alishahi Insurance analysis of FEMA data</a></small>

All states

Every state, sortable

Click a column to sort. Counts are distinct declarations since 2000, excluding COVID-19: major disasters (DR), emergencies (EM) and fire management assistance (FM).

Rank	State	Major disasters since 2000	2016–2025	Emergencies	Fire management	Most common	Most-declared county
1	Oklahoma	60	21	9	121	Severe Storm	Caddo County (25)
2	California	52	32	12	258	Severe Storm	Los Angeles County (15)
3	Kansas	50	18	4	14	Severe Storm	Edwards County (21)
4	Kentucky	49	18	6	7	Severe Storm	Owsley County (28)
5	Missouri	48	16	7	1	Severe Storm	Webster County (22)
5	Tennessee	48	22	7	9	Severe Storm	Shelby County (18)
7	Alaska	46	21	1	19	Severe Storm	Lower Kuskokwim Regional Educational Attendance Area (15)
7	Mississippi	46	20	12	0	Severe Storm	Holmes County (18)
9	Nebraska	45	16	2	9	Severe Storm	Saunders County (18)
10	New York	44	14	19	1	Severe Storm	Delaware County (18)
10	South Dakota	44	15	1	19	Severe Storm	Jackson County (16)
10	West Virginia	44	15	5	2	Severe Storm	Lincoln County (22)
13	Florida	41	17	25	39	Hurricane	Jefferson County (20)
13	Iowa	41	15	2	0	Severe Storm	Winneshiek County (14)
15	Arkansas	40	14	7	2	Severe Storm	Jackson County (17)
16	Alabama	39	15	9	2	Severe Storm	Mobile County (16)
16	Texas	39	16	13	165	Flood	Walker County (18)
18	North Dakota	38	13	5	3	Severe Storm	Walsh County (18)
19	Vermont	37	14	5	0	Severe Storm	Lamoille County (22)
20	Louisiana	36	14	23	5	Hurricane	Lafourche Parish (23)
21	New Hampshire	32	14	11	1	Severe Storm	Grafton County (19)
21	Washington	32	16	6	127	Severe Storm	Lewis County (18)
23	Virginia	31	10	7	7	Severe Storm	Tazewell County (13)
24	Montana	30	14	2	53	Severe Storm	Blaine County (8)
25	Maine	29	10	12	0	Severe Storm	York County(in MSA 6400,6450) (17)
25	Minnesota	29	10	4	3	Severe Storm	Yellow Medicine County (12)
27	North Carolina	28	12	12	9	Hurricane	Brunswick County (11)
28	Georgia	24	12	9	14	Severe Storm	Tattnall County (9)
28	New Jersey	24	6	8	3	Severe Storm	Morris County (13)
28	Ohio	24	4	5	0	Severe Storm	Perry County (11)
28	Oregon	24	12	2	100	Severe Storm	Lincoln County (13)
32	Illinois	23	5	6	0	Severe Storm	Pike County (9)
33	Indiana	22	3	6	0	Severe Storm	Vanderburgh County (12)
33	New Mexico	22	6	3	66	Severe Storm	Lincoln County (11)
35	Arizona	21	9	2	63	Severe Storm	Coconino County (5)
35	Hawaii	21	9	5	24	Severe Storm	Maui County (12)
35	Wisconsin	21	8	3	0	Severe Storm	Vernon County (11)
38	Pennsylvania	20	5	6	0	Severe Storm	Sullivan County (12)
38	South Carolina	20	10	12	7	Hurricane	Berkeley County (13)
40	Massachusetts	19	4	15	0	Severe Storm	Essex County(in PMSA 1120,4160,7090) (12)
41	Idaho	17	8	1	21	Flood	Kootenai County (7)
42	Maryland	16	5	5	0	Severe Storm	Howard County (10)
43	Connecticut	14	5	13	1	Severe Storm	New Haven County(in (P)MSA 1160,5480,8880) (12)
44	Michigan	13	6	5	0	Flood	Oakland County (5)
45	Colorado	12	3	5	71	Fire	El Paso County (6)
46	Delaware	11	3	4	0	Hurricane	Sussex County (7)
46	District of Columbia	11	1	7	0	Severe Storm	District of Columbia (County-equivalent) (11)
48	Rhode Island	10	4	7	1	Severe Storm	Newport County(in PMSA 2480,6480) (8)
48	Utah	10	4	1	40	Flood	Wasatch County (3)
50	Wyoming	9	4	0	27	Flood	Platte County (4)
51	Nevada	8	3	4	74	Severe Storm	Lyon County (4)

Method and source

All figures come from FEMA’s OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), queried through the public API (declarations from 2000 through 2026-10-02). OpenFEMA lists one row per designated area in each declaration; we count distinct disaster numbers, so a declaration covering 40 counties counts once for its state. County counts are the number of distinct major disaster declarations that designated the county. COVID-19 declarations (incident type “Biological”, 54 major disaster declarations in the states) are excluded from every count and ranking. Tribal declarations count toward the state FEMA lists. The 50 states and the District of Columbia are ranked; territories are in the CSV only when FEMA assigns them a state code.

Free to use. Please cite “Alishahi Insurance analysis of FEMA disaster declaration data” and link to this page. Downloads: CSV by state and year, CSV by county. Questions about the data: sam@alishahiinsurance.com.

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