In recent years, the federal government has declared disasters related to events from hurricanes to wildfires to the coronavirus. Such declarations trigger funding of emergency and recovery efforts led primarily by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The federal government declares disasters at the state or territory level, meaning the same storm or incident could be responsible for several disaster declarations. For example, while Hurricane Katrina primarily impacted the Gulf Coast region, it led to disaster declarations in 14 states due to how many people were displaced due to the storm. Disaster declarations are one way to measure the number of disasters that occur each year, though it is not an official count. Another way to measure disasters is through the economic impact of the incidents.
