Disaster Data / States / California / San Diego County
CountySan Diego County recorded 12 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 5 emergency declarations and 17 fire management declarations, 34 in all. Its most common hazard is fire.
Highlighted: San Diego County, CA
Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 26, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals
The federal disaster record for San Diego County runs between 2002 and 2024, covering 34 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Severe Storm And Flooding in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often fire, flood, and severe storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $638.6 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for emergency protective measures.
Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.
Approximately 70.6% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.
Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation
The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation
$639M has been obligated to San Diego County in Public Assistance since FY2000.
$100M followed major disasters other than COVID-19. $54K followed emergency declarations, which cover debris removal and emergency protective work only. $539M, or 84% of the total, was COVID-19, which every county in the country received.
Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out.
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.
| Category | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency protective measures(B) | 759 | $553,644,461 |
| Debris removal(A) | 209 | $32,612,831 |
| Management costs(Z) | 42 | $16,148,164 |
| Roads and bridges(C) | 213 | $13,860,823 |
| Buildings and equipment(E) | 242 | $10,295,542 |
| Parks and recreation(G) | 200 | $6,037,542 |
| Utilities(F) | 101 | $3,969,094 |
| Water control facilities(D) | 42 | $2,077,490 |
| All categories | 1,808 | $638,645,947 |
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 10-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 110 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.
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.
| Assistance type | Approved amount |
|---|---|
| Repair and replacement | $21,780,624 |
| Rental assistance | $18,705,860 |
| Other needs | $33,352,128 |
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.
| Program | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP) | 59 | $40,447,876 |
| Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM) | 6 | $3,869,130 |
| Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation(LPDM) | 4 | $2,759,178 |
| Flood Mitigation Assistance(FMA) | 1 | $43,400 |
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.
Archive coverage for California: 2019-present current Governor publication archive; 2000-2018 not exposed
| Signed | Order | Declaration | Hazards reported here | Reported damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 4, 2024 | Proclamation 79675 | Governor Newsom Proclaims State of Emergency in Southern California As Powerful Storm Makes Landfall | Flood, Heavy Rain | Not reported |
| Aug 19, 2023 | Proclamation 77841 | Governor Newsom Proclaims State of Emergency As Hurricane Hilary Approaches California | Flash Flood, Flood, Heavy Rain | Not reported |
| Mar 23, 2022 | Proclamation 71596 | Governor Newsom Proclaims State of Emergency in 16 Counties to Support Recovery from October Storms | Heavy Rain | Not reported |
Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.
Major disaster (DR). The big one. Opens the full toolbox: repair money for public infrastructure, help for households, and mitigation funding to reduce the next loss.
Emergency (EM). Narrower and usually faster, for protective work before or during an incident. Capped, and rarely brings household assistance. Nearly every county has one from COVID-19.
Fire management (FM). Cost sharing to fight a wildfire as it burns. Not a disaster declaration, and it does not open recovery programs.
Showing 34 declarations
| Date | Number | Type | Hazard | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 2024 | DR-4758-CA | DR | Flood | Severe Storm And Flooding |
| Jan 14, 2023 | DR-4683-CA | DR | Flood | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides |
| Jan 9, 2023 | EM-3591-CA | EM | Flood | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides |
| Oct 16, 2020 | DR-4569-CA | DR | Fire | Wildfires |
| Mar 22, 2020 | DR-4482-CA | DR | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3428-CA | EM | Biological | Covid-19 |
| Jul 6, 2018 | FM-5251-CA | FM | Fire | West Fire |
| Jan 2, 2018 | DR-4353-CA | DR | Fire | Wildfires, Flooding, Mudflows, And Debris Flows |
| Dec 8, 2017 | EM-3396-CA | EM | Fire | Wildfires |
| Dec 7, 2017 | FM-5228-CA | FM | Fire | Lilac Fire |
| Mar 16, 2017 | DR-4305-CA | DR | Flood | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides |
| Jun 19, 2016 | FM-5128-CA | FM | Fire | Border 3 Fire |
| May 14, 2014 | FM-5054-CA | FM | Fire | Poinsettia Fire |
| May 14, 2014 | FM-5055-CA | FM | Fire | Cocos Fire |
| Sep 24, 2012 | FM-5021-CA | FM | Fire | Shockey Fire |
| Jan 26, 2011 | DR-1952-CA | DR | Flood | Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Debris And Mud Flows |
| Oct 24, 2007 | DR-1731-CA | DR | Fire | Wildfires, Flooding, Mud Flows, And Debris Flows |
| Oct 23, 2007 | EM-3279-CA | EM | Fire | Wildfires |
| Oct 22, 2007 | FM-2739-CA | FM | Fire | Rice Fire |
| Oct 21, 2007 | FM-2735-CA | FM | Fire | Harris Fire |
| Sep 15, 2007 | FM-2729-CA | FM | Fire | Angel Fire |
| Mar 13, 2007 | DR-1689-CA | DR | Freezing | Severe Freeze |
| Jul 24, 2006 | FM-2656-CA | FM | Fire | Horse Fire |
| Oct 6, 2005 | FM-2585-CA | FM | Fire | Border # 50 Fire |
| Sep 13, 2005 | EM-3248-CA | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation |
| Sep 5, 2005 | FM-2582-CA | FM | Fire | Sundevil Fire |
| Apr 14, 2005 | DR-1585-CA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mud And Debris Flows |
| Feb 4, 2005 | DR-1577-CA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, And Mudslides |
| Jul 14, 2004 | FM-2529-CA | FM | Fire | Ca - Mataguay Fire - 7-13-2004 |
| Oct 27, 2003 | DR-1498-CA | DR | Fire | Wildfires, Flooding, Mudflow And Debris Flow Directly Related T |
| Oct 26, 2003 | FM-2505-CA | FM | Fire | Ca-Cedar Fire-10-26-2003 |
| Oct 26, 2003 | FM-2506-CA | FM | Fire | Paradise Fire |
| Jul 30, 2002 | FM-2456-CA | FM | Fire | Ca - Pines Fire - 07/30/02 |
| Feb 11, 2002 | FM-2396-CA | FM | Fire | Gavilan Fire |
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). Declarations from the fiscal year still in progress are listed in the tables on this page but are not counted in the totals until the year is complete. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.
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.