OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2
| Entity Name | DisasterDeclarationsSummaries |
|---|---|
| API Endpoint | https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries |
| Update Frequency | R/PT20M |
| Program URL | https://www.fema.gov/disasters/how-declared |
| Category | Disaster Information |
| Keywords | disaster |
Description
Disaster Declarations Summaries is a summarized dataset describing all federally declared disasters. This dataset lists all official FEMA Disaster Declarations, beginning with the first disaster declaration in 1953 and features all three disaster declaration types: major disaster, emergency, and fire management assistance. The dataset includes declared recovery programs and geographic areas (county not available before 1964; Fire Management records are considered partial due to historical nature of the dataset).
Please note the unique structure of the disaster sequencing (due to a numbering system that originated in the 1950's-1970's):
0001-1999 Major Disaster Declaration
2000-2999 Fire Management
3000-3999 Emergency Declaration (Special Emergency)
4000-4999 Major Disaster Declaration
5000-5999 Fire Management
For more information on the disaster declaration process, see https://www.fema.gov/disasters and https://www.fema.gov/disasters/how-declared
This is raw, unedited data from FEMA's National Emergency Management Information System (NEMIS) and as such is subject to a small percentage of human error. The dataset is primarily composed of historical data that was manually entered into NEMIS after it launched in 1998.
Additionally, NEMIS utilizes census data from the United States Census Bureau in which Tribal Nations are listed as localities within a State. As such, disaster declarations for Tribal Nations are currently included in State data.
Citation: FEMA's citation requirements for datasets (API usage or file downloads) can be found on the OpenFEMA Terms and Conditions page, Citing Data section: https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/terms-conditions.
For answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the OpenFEMA program, API, and publicly available datasets, please visit: https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/faq.
If you have media inquiries about this dataset, please email the FEMA News Desk at FEMA-News-Desk@fema.dhs.gov or call (202) 646-3272. For inquiries about FEMA's data and Open Government program, please email the OpenFEMA team at OpenFEMA@fema.dhs.gov.
Full Data
| Format | Address | Record Count | Approximate File Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| csv | Link to csv | 65149 | small (10MB - 50MB) |
| json | Link to json | 65149 | small (10MB - 50MB) |
| jsona | Link to jsona | 65149 | small (10MB - 50MB) |
| jsonl | Link to jsonl | 65149 | small (10MB - 50MB) |
Data Fields
| Name | Title | Type | Description | Is Searchable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| femaDeclarationString | FEMA Declaration String |
text
|
Agency standard method for uniquely identifying Stafford Act declarations - Concatenation of declaration type, disaster number and state code. Ex: DR-4393-NC | yes |
| disasterNumber | Disaster Number |
smallint
|
Sequentially assigned number used to designate an event or incident declared as a disaster. For more information on the disaster process, please visit https://www.fema.gov/disasters/how-declared | yes |
| state | State |
text
|
The name or phrase describing the U.S. state, district, or territory | yes |
| declarationType | Declaration Type |
text
|
Two character code that defines if this is a major disaster, fire management, or emergency declaration. For more information on the disaster process, please visit https://www.fema.gov/disasters/how-declared | yes |
| declarationDate | Declaration Date |
date
|
Date the disaster was declared | yes |
| fyDeclared | FY Declared |
smallint
|
Fiscal year in which the disaster was declared | yes |
| incidentType | Incident Type |
text
|
Type of incident such as fire or flood. For more information on incident types, please visit https://www.fema.gov/disasters/how-declared. | yes |
| declarationTitle | Declaration Title |
text
|
Title for the disaster | yes |
| ihProgramDeclared | IH Program Declared |
boolean
|
Denotes whether the Individuals and Households program was declared for this disaster. For more information on the program, please visit https://www.fema.gov/assistance/individual/program. To determine which FEMA events have been authorized to receive Individual Assistance, use both ihProgramDeclared and iaProgramDeclared. For more information see https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/faq | yes |
| iaProgramDeclared | IA Program Declared |
boolean
|
Denotes whether the Individual Assistance program was declared for this disaster. For more information on the program, please visit https://www.fema.gov/assistance/individual/program. To determine which FEMA events have been authorized to receive Individual Assistance, use both ihProgramDeclared and iaProgramDeclared. For more information see https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/faq | yes |
| paProgramDeclared | PA Program Declared |
boolean
|
Denotes whether the Public Assistance program was declared for this disaster. For more information on the program, please visit https://www.fema.gov/assistance/public/program-overview | yes |
| hmProgramDeclared | HM Program Declared |
boolean
|
Denotes whether the Hazard Mitigation program was declared for this disaster. For more information on the program, please visit https://www.fema.gov/grants/mitigation/hazard-mitigation | yes |
| incidentBeginDate | Incident Begin Date |
date
|
Date the incident itself began | yes |
| incidentEndDate | Incident End Date |
date
|
Date the incident itself ended | yes |
| disasterCloseoutDate | Disaster Closeout Date |
date
|
Date all financial transactions for all programs are completed | yes |
| tribalRequest | Tribal Request |
boolean
|
Denotes that a declaration request was submitted directly to the President, independently of a state, by a Tribal Nation. | yes |
| fipsStateCode | FIPS State Code |
text
|
FIPS two-digit numeric code used to identify the United States, the District of Columbia, US territories, outlying areas of the US and freely associated states | yes |
| fipsCountyCode | FIPS County Code |
text
|
FIPS three-digit numeric code used to identify counties and county equivalents in the United States, the District of Columbia, US territories, outlying areas of the US and freely associated states. Please note that Indian Reservations are not counties and thus will not have a FIPS county code, please utilize the placeCode field instead. If the designation is made for the entire state, this value will be 000 as multiple (all) counties cannot be entered. | yes |
| placeCode | Place Code |
text
|
A unique code system FEMA uses internally to recognize locations that takes the numbers '99' + the 3-digit county FIPS code. There are some declared locations that dont have recognized FIPS county codes in which case we assigned a unique identifier | yes |
| designatedArea | Designated Area |
text
|
The name or phrase describing the geographic area that was included in the declaration | yes |
| declarationRequestNumber | Declaration Request Number |
text
|
Number assigned to the declaration request | yes |
| lastIAFilingDate | Last IA Filing Date |
date
|
Last date when IA requests can be filed. Data available after 1998 only. The date only applies if IA has been approved for the disaster. | yes |
| lastRefresh | Last Refresh |
datetimez
|
Date the record was last updated in the API data store | yes |
| hash | Hash |
text
|
MD5 Hash of the fields and values of the record | no |
| id | ID |
uuid
|
Unique ID assigned to the record | yes |
See Also
Access the metadata API calls for additional information: