Every federal disaster in Westminster since 1954

Each square is a disaster or emergency declaration by the President or FEMA that covered Orange County. Declarations make federal aid available after hurricanes, floods, storms, fires and other events, so this is a record of the big ones.

Declarations: 67since 1954
Major disasters: 49the most serious kind
Since 2000: 40declarations
Most recent: 2026Chemical Release

Fires (22)Floods (19)Severe storms and tornadoes (14)Hurricanes and tropical storms (4)Earthquakes and landslides (3)Other (2)Biological (COVID-19) (2)Winter storms (1)

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Orange County's overall natural hazard risk very high, led by inland flooding, earthquake and wildfire. The history above shows what has actually happened; the risk index estimates what is likely.

All declarations

Declared	Event	Type	FEMA number
May 25, 2026	Chemical Release	Emergency	EM-3646
Apr 19, 2024	Severe Storms and Flooding	Major disaster	DR-4772
Apr 19, 2024	Severe Winter Storm	Major disaster	DR-4773
Oct 18, 2023	Tropical Storm Hilary	Major disaster	DR-4746
Sep 27, 2023	Tropical Storm Hilary	Major disaster	DR-4743
May 25, 2023	Severe Storm and Flooding	Major disaster	DR-4714
May 18, 2023	Severe Winter Storm and Flooding	Major disaster	DR-4713
Apr 25, 2023	Severe Winter Storms and Mudslides	Major disaster	DR-4707
Mar 10, 2023	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	Emergency	EM-3592
Mar 8, 2023	Earthquake	Major disaster	DR-4692
Jan 9, 2023	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides	Emergency	EM-3591
May 12, 2022	Coastal Fire	Fire management	FM-5439
Dec 3, 2020	Bond Fire	Fire management	FM-5383
Oct 26, 2020	Blue Ridge Fire	Fire management	FM-5381
Oct 26, 2020	Silverado Fire	Fire management	FM-5380
Mar 22, 2020	COVID-19 Pandemic	Major disaster	DR-4482
Mar 13, 2020	COVID-19	Emergency	EM-3428
Apr 8, 2019	Severe Storms and Flooding	Major disaster	DR-4425
Mar 28, 2019	Severe Storms and Flooding	Major disaster	DR-4423
Mar 26, 2019	Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides	Major disaster	DR-4422
Oct 10, 2017	Wildfires	Major disaster	DR-4344
Oct 9, 2017	Canyon 2 Fire	Fire management	FM-5223
Sep 26, 2017	Canyon Fire	Fire management	FM-5213
May 2, 2017	Flooding	Major disaster	DR-4312
Mar 16, 2017	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides	Major disaster	DR-4305
Feb 14, 2017	Severe Winter Storm	Major disaster	DR-4302
Jan 27, 2015	Severe Storms, Flooding, and Mudslides	Major disaster	DR-4206
Aug 29, 2013	Wildfire	Major disaster	DR-4142
Jan 26, 2011	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, and Debris and Mud Flows	Major disaster	DR-1952
Nov 18, 2008	Wildfires	Major disaster	DR-1810
Nov 15, 2008	Freeway Fire Complex	Fire management	FM-2792
Oct 24, 2007	Wildfires, Flooding, Mud Flows, and Debris Flows	Major disaster	DR-1731
Oct 23, 2007	Wildfires	Emergency	EM-3279
Oct 22, 2007	Santiago Fire	Fire management	FM-2737
Mar 11, 2007	241 Fire	Fire management	FM-2683
Feb 6, 2006	Sierra Fire	Fire management	FM-2630
Sep 13, 2005	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Emergency	EM-3248
Apr 14, 2005	Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mud and Debris Flows	Major disaster	DR-1585
Feb 4, 2005	Severe Storms, Flooding, Debris Flows, and Mudslides	Major disaster	DR-1577
May 14, 2002	Antonio Fire	Fire management	FM-2405
Feb 9, 1998	Severe Winter Storms and Flooding	Major disaster	DR-1203
Oct 23, 1996	Severe Firestorms	Emergency	EM-3120
Mar 12, 1995	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding Landslides, Mud Flow	Major disaster	DR-1046
Jan 10, 1995	Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, Mud Flows	Major disaster	DR-1044
Jan 17, 1994	Northridge Earthquake	Major disaster	DR-1008
Oct 28, 1993	Fires, Mud/Landslides, Flooding, Soil Erosion	Major disaster	DR-1005
Feb 3, 1993	Severe Winter Storm, Mud & Land Slides, & Flooding	Major disaster	DR-979
Feb 25, 1992	Rain/Snow/Wind Storms, Flooding, Mudslides	Major disaster	DR-935
Feb 5, 1988	Severe Storms, High Tides & Flooding	Major disaster	DR-812
Oct 7, 1987	Earthquake & Aftershocks	Major disaster	DR-799
Feb 9, 1983	Coastal Storms, Floods, Slides & Tornadoes	Major disaster	DR-677
Apr 24, 1982	Urban Fire	Major disaster	DR-657
Nov 27, 1980	Brush & Timber Fires	Major disaster	DR-635
Feb 21, 1980	Severe Storms, Mudslides & Flooding	Major disaster	DR-615
Oct 9, 1978	Landslides	Major disaster	DR-566
Feb 15, 1978	Coastal Storms, Mudslides & Flooding	Major disaster	DR-547
Jan 26, 1969	Severe Storms & Flooding	Major disaster	DR-253
Apr 1, 1964	Seismic Sea Wave	Major disaster	DR-169
Dec 21, 1963	Flood Due to Broken Dam	Major disaster	DR-161
Feb 25, 1963	Severe Storms, Heavy Rains & Flooding	Major disaster	DR-145
Oct 24, 1962	Severe Storms & Flooding	Major disaster	DR-138
Mar 6, 1962	Floods	Major disaster	DR-122
Nov 16, 1961	Fire (Los Angeles County)	Major disaster	DR-119
Apr 4, 1958	Heavy Rainstorms & Flood	Major disaster	DR-82
Dec 29, 1956	Forest Fire	Major disaster	DR-65
Dec 23, 1955	Flood	Major disaster	DR-47
Feb 5, 1954	Flood & Erosion	Major disaster	DR-15

Frequently asked questions

How many federal disasters has Westminster had?

Since 1954, the federal government has issued 67 disaster or emergency declarations covering Orange County, including 49 major disaster declarations. 40 of them came in 2000 or later.

What was the most recent federal disaster in Westminster?

Chemical Release (Emergency, declared May 25, 2026).

What kinds of disasters hit Westminster most often?

By FEMA incident type: fire (22), flood (18), severe storm (14) and earthquake (3).

New to Westminster? The city profile covers flood maps and emergency alerts, and the risk summary shows FEMA's hazard ratings.

Source: FEMA, OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), downloaded October 18, 2026. We list declarations that named Orange County, plus early statewide declarations from before FEMA designated individual counties. "Major disaster" declarations bring the widest federal aid; "emergency" declarations cover shorter-term help; "fire management" declarations help pay to fight large wildfires.