Western District, American Samoa: Natural Disaster Risk and History
FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025) gives Western District, American Samoa no overall risk score (insufficient data); the hazards with the largest estimated yearly losses are tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes, $18 million a year in all.
OpenFEMA lists 14 federal disaster declarations that included Western District since 1966, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4357-AS (Tropical Storm Gita, declared 2 March 2018). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has no tornado on record touching Western District from 1950 to 2025.
Official warnings now All official warnings
Population 31,217 Buildings worth $3.9 billion Area 105 sq mi FIPS 60050
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsunami | Insufficient Data | — | $6.9 million | about once every 2.8 years | 77 |
| Earthquake | Insufficient Data | — | $5.2 million | about once every 129 years | — |
| Hurricane | Insufficient Data | — | $4.8 million | about once every 13 years | 6 |
| Inland flooding | Insufficient Data | — | $617,203 | about 3.1 a year | 87 |
| Coastal flooding | Insufficient Data | — | $15,376 | about once every 3.1 years | — |
| Volcanic activity | Insufficient Data | — | $14,396 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | 3 |
| Cold wave | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | 0 |
| Heat wave | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | 0 |
| Winter weather | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Drought | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Hail | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Ice storm | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Landslide | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Lightning | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Strong wind | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Tornado | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Wildfire | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 14
Most common: Hurricane 5, Typhoon 4, Severe Storm 2, Earthquake 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Typhoon |
| 1970s | 2 | Flood, Drought |
| 1980s | 2 | Hurricane, Typhoon |
| 1990s | 2 | Hurricane ×2 |
| 2000s | 4 | Typhoon ×2, Earthquake, Severe Storm |
| 2010s | 3 | Hurricane ×2, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Western District
- Tropical Storm Gita (2018, DR-4357-AS): 3 American Samoa counties designated.
- Tropical Storm Gita (2018, EM-3397-AS): 3 American Samoa counties designated.
- Severe Storms, Flooding, and Landslides (2014, DR-4192-AS): 3 American Samoa counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Tropical Storm Gita (2018), Hurricane Val (1991), Hurricane Ofa (1990), Hurricane Tusi (1987), Typhoon Esau (1981).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. American Samoa also had 1 statewide declaration with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 0
No tornado in NOAA's Storm Prediction Center record touched Western District between 1950 and 2025. That does not mean one cannot happen.
How Western District compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western District (this page) | — | Insufficient Data | — | — |
| Eastern District | 13 km | Insufficient Data | — | — |
| Manu'a District | 136 km | Insufficient Data | — | — |
| Hawaii County, HI | 4125 km | Relatively High | 98.5 | Volcanic activity |
| Maui County, HI | 4209 km | Relatively Moderate | 93.1 | Volcanic activity |
| Honolulu County, HI | 4217 km | Relatively High | 98.8 | Lightning |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in American Samoa, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Data Unavailable |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Data Unavailable |
| Community risk factor | — |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $18 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Western District's main hazards
- Right now: official warnings · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Tsunami: Tsunamis recorded
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Western District
What natural disasters is Western District, American Samoa most at risk from?
FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025) gives Western District, American Samoa no overall risk score (insufficient data); the hazards with the largest estimated yearly losses are tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes, $18 million a year in all.
How many federal disaster declarations has Western District had?
OpenFEMA lists 14 federal disaster declarations that included Western District since 1966, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4357-AS (Tropical Storm Gita, declared 2 March 2018). Another 1 American Samoa declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Western District?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has no tornado on record touching Western District from 1950 to 2025.
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.