Disaster Data / States / New Mexico / Lea County
CountyLea County recorded 6 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 2 major disasters, 3 emergencies, and 1 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is biological.
Highlighted: Lea County, NM
Totals: FY2000–FY2025 · Page last rebuilt Sep 12, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals
The federal disaster record for Lea County runs between 2000 and 2020, covering 6 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020. The hazards behind these declarations were most often biological, fire, and severe storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $2.7 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for roads and bridges.
Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.
Approximately 94.0% 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
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Roads and bridges(C) | 4 | $2,560,832 |
| Emergency protective measures(B) | 3 | $82,743 |
| Water control facilities(D) | 1 | $57,150 |
| Debris removal(A) | 2 | $6,826 |
| All categories | 10 | $2,707,551 |
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 3-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 183 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 |
|---|---|
| Other needs | $553,888 |
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) | 8 | $1,030,771 |
| Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM) | 2 | $72,350 |
| Flood Mitigation Assistance(FMA) | 1 | $9,358 |
Every local hazard mitigation plan must document previous occurrences of each hazard. Here is that record for Lea County, sourced to OpenFEMA and refreshed weekly. Copy it straight into your plan.
| Hazard | Date | FEMA declaration | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biological | Apr 5, 2020 | DR-4529-NM | DR |
| Biological | Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3460-NM | EM |
| Severe Storm | Oct 29, 2014 | DR-4199-NM | DR |
| Fire | Jan 2, 2006 | FM-2600-NM | FM |
| Hurricane | Sep 7, 2005 | EM-3229-NM | EM |
| Fire | May 10, 2000 | EM-3154-NM | EM |
DR = Major disaster (Stafford Act) · EM = Emergency declaration · FM = Fire management assistance
Showing 6 declarations
| Date | Number | Type | Hazard | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 2020 | DR-4529-NM | DR | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3460-NM | EM | Biological | Covid-19 |
| Oct 29, 2014 | DR-4199-NM | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Jan 2, 2006 | FM-2600-NM | FM | Fire | Southeast New Mexico Fire Complex |
| Sep 7, 2005 | EM-3229-NM | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation |
| May 10, 2000 | EM-3154-NM | EM | Fire | Severe Fire Threats |
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 New Mexico'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.
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.