A Stream of Disasters

In the last three years, Los Angeles County has been declared a federal disaster area six times, making it eligible for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other government entities. Since Feb. 25, 1992, the longest period in which Los Angeles County was not under a disaster declaration was the six months from April to October, 1993.

FLOODS

* FEB. 9-16, 1992

* Punishing storms dump more than 16 inches of rain on the Southland, causing seven deaths. Forty-eight trapped motorists are plucked from the tops of their cars by helicopters in the flooded Sepulveda Dam basin.

* FEMA aid statewide: $62.7 million

* Eligibility period: Feb. 25-April 27

RIOTS

* APRIL 29-MAY 1, 1992

* Fifty-two deaths are blamed on the Los Angeles riots, which devastate whole neighborhoods and destroy 2,314 businesses.

* FEMA aid to county: $148 million

* Eligibility period: May 2-Nov. 2

FLOODS

* JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1993

* At least 96 homes in the county are damaged by floods and mudslides. Most damage is along Sierra Highway between Saugus and Acton, and in Pacific Palisades, Montebello, Hacienda Heights and Agoura Hills.

* FEMA aid statewide: $191 million

* Eligibility period: Feb 3-April 5

FIRES

* OCT. 26-NOV.6, 1993

* Wind-whipped wildfires scorch about 23,000 acres in Altadena and Malibu, killing three people and destroying about 500 structures.

* FEMA aid to Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties: $72 million

* Eligibility period: Oct. 28, 1993-April 26, 1994

EARTHQUAKES

* JAN. 17, 1994

* A 6.7-magnitude earthquake rocks Los Angeles, victimizing at least 667,000 people--more than three times the number in the nation’s next-largest disaster, Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Fifty-seven are killed and 8,700 injured in the initial jolts. In all, 12,000 buildings are damaged or destroyed and 16,000 homes and apartments made uninhabitable.

* FEMA aid to Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties: $2.8 billion

* Eligibility period: Jan. 17, 1994-Jan. 20, 1995

FLOODS

* JANUARY, 1995

* Thirty-eight counties, including Los Angeles, are declared disaster areas after a week of violent storms. So far, 45,662 Los Angeles county residents have applied for aid.

* FEMA aid statewide: $80 million

* Eligibility period: Jan. 13-continuing

Source: Federal Emergency Management Agency

Researched by CECILIA RASMUSSEN / Los Angeles Times