Disaster Data / States / California / San Luis Obispo County

County

San Luis Obispo County, California

San Luis Obispo County recorded 16 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 11 major disasters, 4 emergencies, and 1 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is flood.

Highlighted: San Luis Obispo County, CA

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

16
Declarations since FY2000
11
Major disasters (DR)
4
Emergencies (EM)
1
Fire management (FM)
Apr 2024
Most recent
$94.7M
Federal PA obligated (top: buildings and equipment)

The federal disaster record for San Luis Obispo County runs between 2004 and 2024, covering 16 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often flood, severe storm, and biological. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $94.7 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for buildings and equipment.

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 06079
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
52.3
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 52.3% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status42.5
Household characteristics22.6
Racial and ethnic minority status70.4
Housing type and transportation75.5

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

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
95.9
overall risk score
Relatively High
Expected annual loss$213.9MRelatively High
NRI social vulnerability32.8Relatively Low
Community resilience93.9Very High

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
Buildings and equipment(E)68$33,736,689
Emergency protective measures(B)146$21,968,306
Roads and bridges(C)133$19,429,175
Debris removal(A)72$8,992,201
Parks and recreation(G)56$4,329,632
Utilities(F)61$3,675,693
Water control facilities(D)14$1,772,655
Management costs(Z)14$814,041
All categories564$94,718,392

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 10-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 198 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.

Severe Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides 2024$519K
228 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides 2023$11.7M
318 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides 2023$20.7M
165 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$12.9M
70 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides 2017$1.4M
194 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides 2017$454K
202 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 yr6 yr7 yr8 yr9 yr10 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.

7,402
valid registrations
4,641
households approved
$18,142,523
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$14,578,850
Rental assistance$2,251,973
Other needs$1,254,290

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.

$14,774,121
federal mitigation share
26
funded projects
1
property mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)18$13,420,068
Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation(LPDM)1$1,084,340
Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM)6$228,463
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities(BRIC)1$41,250

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.

2
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
Feb 4, 2024Proclamation 79675Governor Newsom Proclaims State of Emergency in Southern California As Powerful Storm Makes LandfallFlash Flood, Thunderstorm Wind, TornadoNot reported
Mar 8, 2023Proclamation 76379Governor Newsom Proclaims Storm State of Emergency Supporting 21 Additional CountiesFlash FloodNot 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.

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 San Luis Obispo County, sourced to OpenFEMA and refreshed weekly. Copy it straight into your plan.

HazardDateFEMA declarationType
Severe StormApr 13, 2024DR-4769-CADR
Severe StormApr 3, 2023DR-4699-CADR
FloodMar 10, 2023EM-3592-CAEM
FloodJan 14, 2023DR-4683-CADR
FloodJan 9, 2023EM-3591-CAEM
BiologicalMar 22, 2020DR-4482-CADR
BiologicalMar 13, 2020EM-3428-CAEM
FloodApr 1, 2017DR-4308-CADR
FloodMar 16, 2017DR-4305-CADR
Severe StormFeb 14, 2017DR-4301-CADR
FireAug 14, 2016FM-5146-CAFM
FloodJan 26, 2011DR-1952-CADR
FreezingMar 13, 2007DR-1689-CADR
Severe StormFeb 3, 2006DR-1628-CADR
HurricaneSep 13, 2005EM-3248-CAEM
EarthquakeJan 13, 2004DR-1505-CADR

Every declaration on record

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

Showing 16 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Apr 13, 2024DR-4769-CADRSevere StormSevere Winter Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
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
Jan 14, 2023DR-4683-CADRFloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
Jan 9, 2023EM-3591-CAEMFloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
Mar 22, 2020DR-4482-CADRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3428-CAEMBiologicalCovid-19
Apr 1, 2017DR-4308-CADRFloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
Mar 16, 2017DR-4305-CADRFloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
Feb 14, 2017DR-4301-CADRSevere StormSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
Aug 14, 2016FM-5146-CAFMFireChimney Fire
Jan 26, 2011DR-1952-CADRFloodSevere Winter Storms, Flooding, And Debris And Mud Flows
Mar 13, 2007DR-1689-CADRFreezingSevere Freeze
Feb 3, 2006DR-1628-CADRSevere StormSevere Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, And Landslides
Sep 13, 2005EM-3248-CAEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
Jan 13, 2004DR-1505-CADREarthquakeEarthquake
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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.

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