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Risk & Response

Letcher County, KY

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 74.4 Relatively High

20,808
Population
9
Departments
13
Stations
10
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
0.25
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
55th highest of 120
Life Safety per 100k
1.21
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
47th highest of 120
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$13.5M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
28th highest of 120
Property Loss per Resident
$647
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
17th highest of 120

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Letcher County, the largest single contributor is Inland Flooding, 59% of the life-safety total.

Letcher County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $13.5M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 120 Kentucky counties. Nationally, Letcher County ranks 1697th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1380th for life safety per 100k residents, 1225th for property loss, and 490th for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Letcher County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Letcher County.

Talk to us about Letcher County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

80%
20%
Property (buildings): $13.5M (79.6%)
Life safety: $3.5M (20.4%)
Agriculture: $2K (0.0%)

Total expected annual loss: $16,916,861 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$2.0M
Cold Wave
$674K
Tornado
$192K
Strong Wind
$175K
Heat Wave
$129K
Winter Weather
$61K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$12.8M
Earthquake
$163K
Wildfire
$159K
Hail
$137K
Tornado
$99K
Strong Wind
$59K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Letcher County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

11%
89%
Combination: 11% (1)
Volunteer: 89% (8)
Residents per Station
1,601
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
62.5
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 9 departments registered in NERIS Public for Letcher County, KY. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Letcher County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 9 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Sandlick Volunteer Fire Department 10,266 $1.6M Relatively High 1
Cumberland River Volunteer Fire Department 9,237 $1.5M Relatively High 2
Dorton Volunteer Fire Department 9,527 $1.3M Very High 1
Cumberland Fire Department 8,760 $1.2M Relatively High 3
Kings Creek Volunteer Fire Department 6,824 $1.2M Very High 1
Mayking Volunteer Fire Department 7,919 $1.2M Very High 1
Neon Volunteer Fire Department 6,575 $1.1M Relatively High 1
Gordon Volunteer Fire & Rescue 2,618 $440.4K Very High 1
Jenkins Fire Department 1,985 $306.9K Relatively High 2
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

24.4%
Poverty Rate
20.9%
Age 65+
29.8%
Disability Rate
3.4%
Uninsured
52.5%
Pre-1980 Housing
32.3%
Mobile Homes
20.2%
Vacancy Rate
2.6%
Wood Heat
$40,278
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

14
Last 10 Years
25
Last 25 Years
Severe Storm
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo