Disaster Data / States / Kentucky / Rowan County

County

Rowan County, Kentucky

Rowan County recorded 18 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 6 emergency declarations and 0 fire management declarations, 24 in all. Its most common hazard is severe storm.

Highlighted: Rowan County, KY

Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 26, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals

18
Major disasters
6
Emergency declarations
0
Fire management grants
24
All declarations on record
Jan 2026
Most recent
$4.6M
Federal PA obligated (top: utilities)

The federal disaster record for Rowan County runs between 2000 and 2026, covering 24 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Remnants Of Hurricane Helene in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often severe storm, severe ice storm, and flood. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $4.6 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for utilities.

Past 12 months

Recent declarations and aid so far

Rowan County has been named in 1 federal declaration in the past 12 months. The figures are what FEMA has reported for Rowan County to date and grow as recovery continues. It falls in a complete fiscal year and is counted in the totals above.

DeclarationDeclaredHouseholds approvedIndividual AssistancePublic Assistance obligated
EM-3633-KYEmergency · Winter StormJan 24, 2026Incident period Jan 23 to 27, 2026None reportedNone reportedNone 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.

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 21205
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
50.6
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 50.6% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status69.3
Household characteristics1.4
Racial and ethnic minority status9.3
Housing type and transportation95.9

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

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
47.9
overall risk score
Relatively Low
Expected annual loss$12.9MVery Low
NRI social vulnerability61.3Relatively High
Community resilience50.1Relatively Moderate

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 obligated

$5M has been obligated to Rowan County in Public Assistance since FY2000.

$5M followed major disasters other than COVID-19.

Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out.

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
Utilities(F)28$1,943,217
Roads and bridges(C)211$1,755,948
Debris removal(A)18$325,993
Emergency protective measures(B)28$269,221
Buildings and equipment(E)27$196,884
Parks and recreation(G)8$49,678
Water control facilities(D)1$16,110
All categories321$4,557,051

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 86 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 Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslide 2015$64K
90 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides 2015$42K
71 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides 2015$169K
123 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, And Tornadoes 2010$2.3M
147 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storm And Flooding 2009$108K
82 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, And Mudslides 2004$128K
38 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.

1,228
valid registrations
760
households approved
$4,775,429
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$2,596,048
Rental assistance$409,600
Other needs$1,763,583

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.

$2,931,256
federal mitigation share
11
funded projects
52
properties mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)10$2,871,453
Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM)1$59,803

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.

4
state declarations with local storm evidence
16
statewide on record

Archive coverage for Kentucky: Beshear-era Governor newsroom releases (about eight months deep) plus reviewed records; SOS Executive Journal (authoritative) is bot-blocked and pre-2019 coverage is an open gap

SignedOrderDeclarationHazards reported hereReported damage
May 16, 20252025-305State Of Emergency Related To Continuing Weather EventHail, Thunderstorm Wind$2,000
Apr 2, 20252025-210State Of Emergency WeatherThunderstorm Wind$5,000
Apr 2, 2024KY-SOE-2024-04-02Gov. Beshear Declares State of Emergency Following Severe StormsThunderstorm Wind$205,000
Dec 11, 2021KY-SOE-2021-12-11State of emergency after the overnight tornado outbreak in western KentuckyThunderstorm Wind$5,000

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

Every declaration on record

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 24 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Jan 24, 2026EM-3633-KYEMWinter StormSevere Winter Storm
Apr 3, 2025EM-3626-KYEMSevere StormSevere Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding
Feb 16, 2025EM-3624-KYEMSevere StormSevere Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, And Landslides
Nov 26, 2024DR-4848-KYDRTropical StormRemnants Of Hurricane Helene
Mar 31, 2021DR-4592-KYDRSevere Ice StormSevere Winter Storms, Landslides, And Mudslides
Mar 28, 2020DR-4497-KYDRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3469-KYEMBiologicalCovid-19
Aug 12, 2015DR-4239-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslide
May 12, 2015DR-4218-KYDRFloodSevere Winter Storm, Snowstorm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
May 1, 2015DR-4217-KYDRFloodSevere Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides
Mar 6, 2012DR-4057-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds And Flooding
May 4, 2011DR-1976-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding
Jul 23, 2010DR-1925-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides
May 11, 2010DR-1912-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, And Tornadoes
Feb 5, 2009DR-1818-KYDRSevere Ice StormSevere Winter Storm And Flooding
Jan 28, 2009EM-3302-KYEMSevere Ice StormSevere Winter Storm
Sep 10, 2005EM-3231-KYEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina
Jun 10, 2004DR-1523-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, And Mudslides
Jul 2, 2003DR-1475-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Flooding, Mud And Rock Slides, And Tornadoes
Jun 3, 2003DR-1471-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Flooding, Mud And Rock Slides, And Tornadoes
Mar 14, 2003DR-1454-KYDRSevere StormSevere Winter Ice And Snow Storms, Heavy Rain, Flooding, Tornadoes, And Mud And
Apr 4, 2002DR-1407-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms And Flooding
Aug 15, 2001DR-1388-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms And Flooding
Feb 28, 2000DR-1320-KYDRSevere StormSevere Storms And Flooding
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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 Kentucky'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.

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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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