Drought

Hazard in Geological and Other Natural Hazards

A slow-onset, long-duration hazard that erodes water supply, agriculture and wildfire safety over months or years.

Plans also call it: aquifer depletion, groundwater depletion, water supply shortage, water shortage

Talk to us about DroughtAll 73 hazards →

What you’d hand your council

The first page of a Drought evidence brief: likelihood, impact and readiness on your own scale, every figure sourced.

Evidence brief for Cedar Ridge County (example)

September 14, 2026

Drought

Hazard in Geological and Other Natural Hazards, on the established threats & hazards list

Impact
5432112345

Likelihood

Likelihood
3

Possible — Expected occasionally — roughly once in 10 to 50 years (2–10% chance in any year).

Impact
4

Major — Severe effects — casualties possible, serious damage across a significant share of the jurisdiction, essential services disrupted for weeks, outside assistance needed.

Readiness
3

Moderate — The organization has a generally established capability to manage this threat or hazard, but identifiable gaps remain. The organization could likely perform many required actions, though effectiveness may vary depending on conditions, staffing, resources, or complexity.

  • 2source documents
  • 58verified mentions
  • 2federal declarations
  • 91.6NRI score, relatively high
Worked example: Cedar Ridge County is fictional. The scores illustrate the format and are nobody's decision. Open a full sample brief →

The national record

FEMA National Risk Index: Drought

$2.7B
expected loss a year, nationally
297
counties rated high or very high

Your county’s own rating is the first thing we pull.

How it maps

The same hazard in the vocabularies your plan and FEMA already use.

FEMA National Risk Index
Drought (DRGT)one of the 18 hazards NRI scores per county
FEMA declaration incident type
Drought46 declarations on record
NOAA Storm Events type
Drought
Hazzard category
Geological and Other Natural Hazards, natural hazards

The national record

What the federal data says about Drought

The same national sources a Hazzard brief starts from. For your jurisdiction we narrow each one to your county and its neighbors.

Where Drought is rated high

Share of each state's counties FEMA rates Relatively High or Very High

Alabama: 1 of 67 counties rated high (1%) · $17M expected loss a yearAlaska: 0 of 1 counties rated high (0%) · $0K expected loss a yearArizona: 2 of 15 counties rated high (13%) · $11M expected loss a yearArkansas: 4 of 60 counties rated high (7%) · $27M expected loss a yearCalifornia: 32 of 55 counties rated high (58%) · $1.0B expected loss a yearColorado: 4 of 54 counties rated high (7%) · $22M expected loss a yearConnecticut: 0 of 9 counties rated high (0%) · $727K expected loss a yearDelaware: 0 of 3 counties rated high (0%) · $4M expected loss a yearDistrict of Columbia: not rated for DroughtFlorida: 1 of 65 counties rated high (2%) · $11M expected loss a yearGeorgia: 4 of 145 counties rated high (3%) · $55M expected loss a yearHawaii: 0 of 4 counties rated high (0%) · $37K expected loss a yearIdaho: 0 of 44 counties rated high (0%) · $142K expected loss a yearIllinois: 10 of 102 counties rated high (10%) · $83M expected loss a yearIndiana: 1 of 82 counties rated high (1%) · $21M expected loss a yearIowa: 45 of 99 counties rated high (45%) · $223M expected loss a yearKansas: 21 of 105 counties rated high (20%) · $101M expected loss a yearKentucky: 1 of 108 counties rated high (1%) · $16M expected loss a yearLouisiana: 14 of 62 counties rated high (23%) · $53M expected loss a yearMaine: 0 of 16 counties rated high (0%) · $4M expected loss a yearMaryland: 4 of 23 counties rated high (17%) · $25M expected loss a yearMassachusetts: 0 of 13 counties rated high (0%) · $6M expected loss a yearMichigan: 0 of 18 counties rated high (0%) · $668K expected loss a yearMinnesota: 3 of 85 counties rated high (4%) · $34M expected loss a yearMississippi: 3 of 82 counties rated high (4%) · $39M expected loss a yearMissouri: 6 of 112 counties rated high (5%) · $47M expected loss a yearMontana: 0 of 56 counties rated high (0%) · $1M expected loss a yearNebraska: 13 of 93 counties rated high (14%) · $103M expected loss a yearNevada: 0 of 17 counties rated high (0%) · $6M expected loss a yearNew Hampshire: 0 of 5 counties rated high (0%) · $2M expected loss a yearNew Jersey: 0 of 21 counties rated high (0%) · $11M expected loss a yearNew Mexico: 7 of 31 counties rated high (23%) · $43M expected loss a yearNew York: 0 of 31 counties rated high (0%) · $6M expected loss a yearNorth Carolina: 0 of 97 counties rated high (0%) · $29M expected loss a yearNorth Dakota: 0 of 53 counties rated high (0%) · $1M expected loss a yearOhio: 0 of 55 counties rated high (0%) · $11M expected loss a yearOklahoma: 20 of 75 counties rated high (27%) · $96M expected loss a yearOregon: 0 of 35 counties rated high (0%) · $965K expected loss a yearPennsylvania: 2 of 24 counties rated high (8%) · $21M expected loss a yearRhode Island: 0 of 5 counties rated high (0%) · $271K expected loss a yearSouth Carolina: 0 of 45 counties rated high (0%) · $6M expected loss a yearSouth Dakota: 2 of 63 counties rated high (3%) · $27M expected loss a yearTennessee: 0 of 93 counties rated high (0%) · $12M expected loss a yearTexas: 77 of 242 counties rated high (32%) · $411M expected loss a yearUtah: 0 of 29 counties rated high (0%) · $5M expected loss a yearVermont: not rated for DroughtVirginia: 20 of 96 counties rated high (21%) · $76M expected loss a yearWashington: 0 of 33 counties rated high (0%) · $125K expected loss a yearWest Virginia: 0 of 48 counties rated high (0%) · $3M expected loss a yearWisconsin: 0 of 62 counties rated high (0%) · $3M expected loss a yearWyoming: 0 of 22 counties rated high (0%) · $503K expected loss a year
  • None
  • Up to 10%
  • 10–25%
  • 25–50%
  • Over 50%
  • Not rated
FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0, county table

46 federal declarations since 1963

Declarations FEMA filed as “Drought”, by year (2026 to date)

015301963: 1 declaration1964: 2 declarations1965: 4 declarations1974: 3 declarations1976: 7 declarations1977: 23 declarations1980: 1 declaration1992: 1 declaration1993: 1 declaration1998: 2 declarations2007: 1 declaration1977: 23197019801990200020102020
OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, as of 2026-09-27. Counts distinct disasters; major, emergency and fire-management declarations.

In your plan

What a Drought profile needs, and where each part comes from

A local hazard mitigation plan profiles each hazard the same way (44 CFR 201.6). Here is how Hazzard fills each part for Drought.

  1. Location

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    FEMA's National Risk Index rates Drought for every county. We place yours against its neighbors and the state, then add what your plans map in more detail.

  2. Extent

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    Your documents

    The magnitude your plans use for Drought (a scale, a depth, an acreage, a duration), read from your documents and cited, so the profile states the strength you plan for.

  3. Previous occurrences

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    Every FEMA declaration filed as Drought that included your county, back to 1953, alongside the events your own records and after-action reports describe.

  4. Probability of future events

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    NRI's annualized frequency for your county, and the declaration history, drafted into a likelihood on your own scale for your team to accept or change.

  5. Vulnerability and impacts

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(ii)

    National data

    NRI's expected annual loss and social vulnerability for your county, the Census population profile and HHS emPOWER counts, with the impacts your plans already describe.

  6. The assessment itself

    Your team decides

    Likelihood, impact and readiness for Drought are drafted with every source attached, and a person on your team accepts each one. Hazzard never records a score on its own.

How we can help

How we’d help you prepare for Drought

  1. 1

    We pull what the national record holds

    NRI ratings where FEMA models Drought, any declarations, and the drought-relevant climate record. Where nothing models it, we say so.

  2. 2

    We read your plans and studies

    Mitigation plan, geologic or drought studies you already have, so the evidence you own is cited alongside the federal figures.

  3. 3

    You leave with a cited brief

    Likelihood, impact and readiness for Drought on your own scale, every figure tied to its source, ready for the planning team or the council.

Also in Geological and Other Natural Hazards

Preparing for Drought

Give Drought the profile it deserves, even if it rarely makes the news.

Slow and rare hazards are the ones plans skim. We show what the national record says about yours, and where your plan has to rely on local knowledge instead. A person replies within one business day.

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