How to Read the Risk Directory
We organize the site around cities, then display FEMA's county-equivalent figures with the source, vintage, and units.
The essential distinction
A FEMA relative risk score is a comparison measure, not a percent chance. The directory never turns that score into the probability that a disaster will strike a city, neighborhood, or home.
What the pages combine
Our hazard source is the FEMA National Risk Index v1.19.0, released March 2023. City population and coordinates come from SimpleMaps US Cities Database.
1. City context
City name, state, population, coordinates, state navigation, and true nearby-city distances make each page useful for finding and comparing places.
2. County hazard profile
Each city is joined to its county FIPS code. The 18 hazard metrics apply across that county, so same-county cities can correctly share FEMA values.
3. FEMA measures
Pages show the source relative score and rating, annualized frequency, and recorded events when available. FEMA's area-wide annualized loss estimate appears only in the detailed hazard panel. We do not rescale the FEMA scores.
4. Household usefulness
Homeowner questions, preparedness actions, official guidance, and hazard-tagged gear connect comparative data to practical next steps without pretending to give property advice.
Geographic model
City context + county hazard evidence
The city marker is for orientation. It does not shrink county values to the city boundary or imply an address-level result.
Frequency is hazard-specific
For tornadoes, the directory labels FEMA's historical annualized occurrence rate as events per year. For earthquakes, FEMA's annualized frequency is a modeled annual probability, so the page displays it as a percentage per year. Other hazard thresholds and methods differ; their values remain labeled as FEMA annualized frequency until a hazard-specific explanation is verified. Every displayed value includes “per year” beside the number.
What this directory cannot answer
- The likelihood of damage at a particular address or during a particular year.
- Whether a specific property is in a fault, flood, liquefaction, wind, or evacuation zone.
- The condition of a building, the adequacy of a retrofit, or the coverage in an insurance policy.
- Real-time alerts, forecasts, evacuation orders, or changes after the March 2023 source release.
Use official state and local maps, emergency managers, licensed professionals, and current warnings for those decisions.
City coordinates and population data: SimpleMaps US Cities Database. Recent-earthquake sections on selected city pages use the USGS past-24-hour feed, filtered to 100 km from the city center. Feed updates are separate from the FEMA source date.