Disaster Data / States / Wisconsin / Columbia County

County

Columbia County, Wisconsin

Columbia County recorded 8 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 5 major disasters, 3 emergencies, and 0 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is severe storm.

Highlighted: Columbia County, WI

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

8
Declarations since FY2000
5
Major disasters (DR)
3
Emergencies (EM)
0
Fire management (FM)
Apr 2020
Most recent
$6.2M
Federal PA obligated (top: roads and bridges)

The federal disaster record for Columbia County runs between 2000 and 2020, covering 8 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020. The hazards behind these declarations were most often severe storm, biological, and snowstorm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $6.2 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for roads and bridges.

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 55021
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
9.9
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 9.9% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status6.7
Household characteristics10.5
Racial and ethnic minority status24.0
Housing type and transportation38.8

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

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
81.4
overall risk score
Relatively Moderate
Expected annual loss$51.4MRelatively Low
NRI social vulnerability24.0Relatively Low
Community resilience91.3Very 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
Roads and bridges(C)109$2,691,604
Water control facilities(D)26$1,831,827
Utilities(F)8$659,532
Emergency protective measures(B)88$596,065
Parks and recreation(G)20$195,372
Debris removal(A)23$174,948
Buildings and equipment(E)17$99,738
All categories291$6,249,086

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 5-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 60 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.

DR-4288 2016$20K
153 days to first federal obligation
DR-1966 2011$5K
72 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding 2008$4.0M
76 days to first federal obligation
DR-3285 2008$3K
43 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms And Flooding 2004$2.0M
31 days to first federal obligation
Snow 2001$120K
49 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 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.

1,771
valid registrations
1,126
households approved
$2,719,270
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$1,915,846
Rental assistance$242,876
Other needs$558,974

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.

$181,839
federal mitigation share
4
funded projects
1
property mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)4$181,839

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.

5
state declarations with local storm evidence
18
statewide on record

Archive coverage for Wisconsin: 2019-present structured Governor archive; 2000-2018 not covered; early PDFs may require OCR

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 Columbia County, sourced to OpenFEMA and refreshed weekly. Copy it straight into your plan.

HazardDateFEMA declarationType
BiologicalApr 4, 2020DR-4520-WIDR
BiologicalMar 13, 2020EM-3454-WIEM
Severe StormJun 14, 2008DR-1768-WIDR
Severe StormAug 26, 2007DR-1719-WIDR
HurricaneSep 13, 2005EM-3249-WIEM
Severe StormJun 18, 2004DR-1526-WIDR
SnowstormJan 24, 2001EM-3163-WIEM
Severe StormJun 24, 2000DR-1332-WIDR

Every declaration on record

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

Showing 8 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Apr 4, 2020DR-4520-WIDRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3454-WIEMBiologicalCovid-19
Jun 14, 2008DR-1768-WIDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding
Aug 26, 2007DR-1719-WIDRSevere StormSevere Storms And Flooding
Sep 13, 2005EM-3249-WIEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
Jun 18, 2004DR-1526-WIDRSevere StormSevere Storms And Flooding
Jan 24, 2001EM-3163-WIEMSnowstormSnow
Jun 24, 2000DR-1332-WIDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding
← Wisconsin statewide overview · All Wisconsin jurisdictions

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 Wisconsin'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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