An Oklahoma county tops the list of most disasters in the country since 1990

Caddo County, Oklahoma, has tied with another county as having the most disaster declarations in the United States since 1990.

USA TODAY analyzed three decades of Federal Emergency Management Agency data on major presidential disaster declarations. Lawrence County, Kentucky, and Caddo County are tied for the most major disaster declarations since 1990 at 30.

The data for 1990-2022 show that while those counties had plenty of disaster declarations thanks to a combination of severe weather events, other parts of the nation have frequently been on FEMA’s radar as well.

What are America’s top disaster counties?

Caddo and Lawrence counties have had the most disaster declarations since 1990. Lawrence, in Kentucky, is also tied with Knott County, Kentucky, and Okmulgee County, Oklahoma for the most severe storm disaster declarations (18). Caddo, in Oklahoma, is close behind for severe storm disasters (17).

Lawrence and Caddo have also been battered by floods, ice storms and tornadoes in their run-up of disaster declarations.

Severe weather in Caddo County:Tornadoes confirmed in rural Oklahoma towns, with more severe weather on the way Wednesday

About half of all U.S. counties have had at least 10 federally declared disasters. Here are the Top 12:

• Lawrence County, KY (30)

• Caddo County, OK (30)

• Johnson County, KY (28)

• Perry County, KY (28)

• Magoffin County, KY (28)

• Logan County, OK (27)

• Breathitt County, KY (26)

• Lafourche Parish, LA (26)

• Floyd County, KY (26)

• Owsley County, KY (26)

• Canadian County, OK (26)

• Okmulgee County, OK (26)

Bear in mind that the number and scope of presidential disaster declarations in each state reflect not only the volume of extreme weather events but also the vagaries of federal disaster funding rules. Some states have been more frequently subject to statewide declarations, and in these cases USA TODAY’s analysis added a declaration for each county’s numbers.

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Which counties had the fewest disasters?

Almost every county in the U.S. (98%) has been the site of at least one major federally declared disaster in the past 33 years.

The 50 counties that escaped a single disaster declaration are primarily in the intermountain West: Nevada (6 counties); Utah (6 counties); Idaho (5 counties); and Wyoming (5 counties). Michigan (26) and Wisconsin (1) were the two states east of the Rockies with counties that had no disasters.

Note that USA TODAY's county analysis excluded disaster declarations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which covered every state, as well as those for terrorism, fishing losses and "Human Causes".

What are the most common disasters?

Severe storms have been listed as the cause of more than 900 major disasters across the U.S. since 1990, more than any other type of natural event, according to the FEMA data. Floods and hurricanes follow with about 300 and 200 disaster declarations, respectively.

Is climate change making things worse?

Because disaster declarations are not a direct measure of extreme weather conditions, FEMA data can’t address this question directly. But the number of disaster declarations generally has trended higher than in the 1990s.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week announced there were 18 disasters costing $1 billion dollar or more in 2022, the third most on record behind 2020 and 2021. NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad said climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as severe storms, floods and fires. The agency released the map below plotting each of the disasters from last year.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caddo County, OK, has had most disaster declarations in country