Disaster Data / States / Iowa / Polk County
CountyPolk County recorded 11 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 2 emergency declarations and 0 fire management declarations, 13 in all. Its most common hazard is severe storm.
Highlighted: Polk County, IA
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 Polk County runs between 2004 and 2026, covering 13 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Severe Storms And Flooding in 2026. The hazards behind these declarations were most often severe storm, biological, and flood. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $146.7 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for emergency protective measures.
Past 12 months
Polk County has been named in 1 federal declaration in the past 12 months. The figures are what FEMA has reported for Polk County to date and grow as recovery continues. It falls in a complete fiscal year and is counted in the totals above.
| Declaration | Declared | Households approved | Individual Assistance | Public Assistance obligated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DR-4942-IAMajor disaster · Severe Storm | Sep 1, 2026Incident period Jul 1 to 4, 2026 | None reported | None reported | None reported yet |
Individual Assistance is FEMA's Individuals and Households Program, from OpenFEMA's Housing Assistance data for owners and renters. Public Assistance is the obligated federal share from OpenFEMA's grant award activity, which usually starts posting weeks to months after a declaration. Select a declaration number to open its full event profile, with the same figures for every place it covers.
Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.
Approximately 44.8% 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
$147M has been obligated to Polk County in Public Assistance since FY2000.
$35M followed major disasters other than COVID-19. $34K followed emergency declarations, which cover debris removal and emergency protective work only. $112M, or 76% 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) | 307 | $115,414,882 |
| Debris removal(A) | 119 | $11,367,399 |
| Utilities(F) | 77 | $6,403,708 |
| Parks and recreation(G) | 98 | $4,275,339 |
| Roads and bridges(C) | 91 | $3,750,213 |
| Water control facilities(D) | 26 | $2,006,567 |
| Management costs(Z) | 37 | $1,735,489 |
| Buildings and equipment(E) | 49 | $1,734,470 |
| All categories | 804 | $146,688,067 |
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 7-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 116 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 | $11,930,874 |
| Rental assistance | $2,240,255 |
| Other needs | $8,087,875 |
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) | 32 | $26,353,029 |
| Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation(LPDM) | 1 | $198,837 |
| Flood Mitigation Assistance(FMA) | 1 | $112,500 |
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 Iowa: 2024-present HSEMD proclamation tables; 2000-2023 not collected
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 13 declarations
| Date | Number | Type | Hazard | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | DR-4942-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| May 24, 2024 | DR-4784-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding |
| May 14, 2024 | DR-4779-IA | DR | Tornado | Severe Storms And Tornadoes |
| Aug 17, 2020 | DR-4557-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms |
| Mar 23, 2020 | DR-4483-IA | DR | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3480-IA | EM | Biological | Covid-19 |
| Mar 23, 2019 | DR-4421-IA | DR | Flood | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Aug 20, 2018 | DR-4386-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding |
| Jul 29, 2010 | DR-1930-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes |
| May 27, 2008 | DR-1763-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding |
| Mar 14, 2007 | DR-1688-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storms |
| Sep 10, 2005 | EM-3239-IA | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation |
| May 25, 2004 | DR-1518-IA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding |
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 Iowa'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.