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Risk & Response

Graham County, NC

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 75.9 Relatively High

8,072
Population
2
Departments
3
Stations
3
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
0.11
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
89th highest of 100
Life Safety per 100k
1.40
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
7th highest of 100
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$3.9M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
96th highest of 100
Property Loss per Resident
$487
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
25th highest of 100

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 Graham County, the largest single contributor is Cold Wave, 66% of the life-safety total.

Graham County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $3.9M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 100 North Carolina counties. Nationally, Graham County ranks 2529th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1128th for life safety per 100k residents, 2482nd for property loss, and 906th 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 Graham 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 Graham County.

Talk to us about Graham County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

71%
28%
Property (buildings): $3.9M (70.9%)
Life safety: $1.6M (28.0%)
Agriculture: $60K (1.1%)

Total expected annual loss: $5,541,793 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)

Cold Wave
$1.0M
Tornado
$163K
Strong Wind
$160K
Lightning
$66K
Landslide
$62K
Earthquake
$34K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$3.4M
Earthquake
$191K
Tornado
$148K
Strong Wind
$35K
Wildfire
$27K
Hurricane
$27K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Graham 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

100%
Volunteer: 100% (2)
Residents per Station
2,691
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
37.2
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 2 departments registered in NERIS Public for Graham County, NC. 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 Graham 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 2 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Graham County Fire Department 4,690 $883.9K Relatively High 2
Stecoah Township Rescue Squad & Fire Department Inc. 1,023 $194.1K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

6.7%
Poverty Rate
25.5%
Age 65+
18.5%
Disability Rate
12.5%
Uninsured
36.3%
Pre-1980 Housing
25.7%
Mobile Homes
32.7%
Vacancy Rate
6.9%
Wood Heat
$51,069
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

11
Last 10 Years
13
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
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