Disaster Data / States / California / Imperial County

County

Imperial County, California

Imperial County recorded 9 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 6 major disasters, 3 emergencies, and 0 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is severe storm.

Highlighted: Imperial County, CA

Totals: FY2000–FY2025 · Page last rebuilt Sep 12, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals

9
Declarations since FY2000
6
Major disasters (DR)
3
Emergencies (EM)
0
Fire management (FM)
Nov 2023
Most recent
$48.4M
Federal PA obligated (top: emergency protective measures)

The federal disaster record for Imperial County runs between 2005 and 2023, covering 9 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Hilary in 2023. The hazards behind these declarations were most often severe storm, biological, and hurricane. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $48.4 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for emergency protective measures.

Risk and vulnerability context

Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.

County FIPS 06025
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
99.4
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 99.4% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status96.8
Household characteristics93.9
Racial and ethnic minority status99.4
Housing type and transportation97.9

Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
96.5
overall risk score
Relatively High
Expected annual loss$147.6MRelatively Moderate
NRI social vulnerability85.1Very High
Community resilience2.4Very Low

The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation

About these measures: CDC Social Vulnerability Index and FEMA National Risk Index Social Vulnerability are separate measures built with different methods. They are shown side by side for context and should not be interpreted as equivalent scores.

Federal Public Assistance by category

Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.

CategoryProjectsFederal share obligated
Emergency protective measures(B)90$21,057,079
Utilities(F)44$12,418,060
Buildings and equipment(E)85$6,438,161
Water control facilities(D)30$5,573,863
Parks and recreation(G)16$1,297,178
Roads and bridges(C)10$932,893
Management costs(Z)9$489,865
Debris removal(A)7$149,981
All categories291$48,357,080

Recovery funding, how fast it came

For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 11-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 112 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.

Tropical Storm Hilary 2023$1.1M
111 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides 2023$3.9M
135 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$17.9M
101 days to first federal obligation
DR-4305 2017$37K
376 days to first federal obligation
Earthquake 2010$25.0M
63 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Debris And Mud Flows 2010$445K
113 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 yr6 yr7 yr8 yr9 yr10 yr11 yr

Assistance to households (Individual Assistance)

FEMA Individual Assistance to households in this jurisdiction, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved counts and dollars are the households FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Figures are self-reported and drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, not audited, and Individual Assistance exists only for disasters where it was designated, so many jurisdictions show none.

436
valid registrations
357
households approved
$1,796,674
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Other needs$1,796,674

Hazard mitigation, what has been funded here

Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance obligated to this jurisdiction to reduce future disaster losses, across the FEMA mitigation programs. This is the record of past mitigation investment a local hazard mitigation plan documents. Figures are federal share obligated, reported through OpenFEMA and not audited, and are separate from the Public Assistance funding above.

$790,309
federal mitigation share
6
funded projects
1
property mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)4$638,941
Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM)1$101,368
Flood Mitigation Assistance(FMA)1$50,000

State declarations (governor)

Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.

1
state declarations with local storm evidence
47
statewide on record

Archive coverage for California: 2019-present current Governor publication archive; 2000-2018 not exposed

SignedOrderDeclarationHazards reported hereReported damage
Aug 19, 2023Proclamation 77841Governor Newsom Proclaims State of Emergency As Hurricane Hilary Approaches CaliforniaFlash Flood$10,000

Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.

Most common hazards

Previous occurrences, for your mitigation plan

Every local hazard mitigation plan must document previous occurrences of each hazard. Here is that record for Imperial County, sourced to OpenFEMA and refreshed weekly. Copy it straight into your plan.

HazardDateFEMA declarationType
HurricaneNov 21, 2023DR-4750-CADR
Severe StormApr 3, 2023DR-4699-CADR
FloodMar 10, 2023EM-3592-CAEM
BiologicalMar 22, 2020DR-4482-CADR
BiologicalMar 13, 2020EM-3428-CAEM
EarthquakeMay 7, 2010DR-1911-CADR
Severe StormMar 8, 2010DR-1884-CADR
FreezingMar 13, 2007DR-1689-CADR
HurricaneSep 13, 2005EM-3248-CAEM

Every declaration on record

DR = Major disaster (Stafford Act) · EM = Emergency declaration · FM = Fire management assistance

Showing 9 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Nov 21, 2023DR-4750-CADRHurricaneTropical Storm Hilary
Apr 3, 2023DR-4699-CADRSevere StormSevere Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
Mar 10, 2023EM-3592-CAEMFloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
Mar 22, 2020DR-4482-CADRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3428-CAEMBiologicalCovid-19
May 7, 2010DR-1911-CADREarthquakeEarthquake
Mar 8, 2010DR-1884-CADRSevere StormSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, And Debris And Mud Flows
Mar 13, 2007DR-1689-CADRFreezingSevere Freeze
Sep 13, 2005EM-3248-CAEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
← California statewide overview · All California jurisdictions

How these numbers are built

Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to California's statewide total. This page counts declarations that named this jurisdiction as a designated area. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30); the in-progress year may appear in the most-recent list but is not counted in the totals. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.

Cite this profile

Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.

Other California jurisdictions