States › Massachusetts › Essex County

Essex County, Massachusetts

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 25009 · 807,074 residents (2021) · 493 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 98Tornado · 12Flood · 137Wind · 346Winter · 0

Essex County within Massachusetts. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 662 storm events in Essex County, Massachusetts, led by damaging wind.

That is 134.4 events per 100 square miles, below the Massachusetts figure of 210.6, and 8.2 per 10,000 residents against 23.5 statewide.

9 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 7 deaths and 31 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $50M.

FEMA has designated the county in 40 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Hurricane Lee (emergency, 15 Sep 2023).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 5,456 claims since 1978, of which 4,256 were paid, totalling $94M (about $22K per paid claim). FEMA counts 5,537 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively High" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively High" ($199M a year across 18 hazards).

47 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 3 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

9events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

662events since 19507 deaths, 31 injuries recorded

40disaster declarationslast 15 Sep 2023

5,456NFIP flood claims$94M paid

Compared with Massachusetts and the United States

Measure	Essex County	Massachusetts	US
Recorded events since 1950	662	16,427	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	134.4	210.6	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	8.2	23.5	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	9	307	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	7	160	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$50M	$1.2B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	6.8	5.1	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$22K	$16K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	14.0	9.2	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Hail: 1Tornado: 4Wind: 4

Hail: 7Tornado: 6Wind: 10

Hail: 7Tornado: 1Wind: 11

Hail: 3Wind: 25

Hail: 9Tornado: 1Flood: 11Wind: 23Lightning: 3Other: 7

Hail: 21Flood: 13Wind: 84Tropical: 1Lightning: 26Other: 7

Hail: 39Flood: 78Wind: 139Lightning: 14Other: 4

Hail: 11Flood: 35Wind: 50Lightning: 6Other: 1

91950s231960s191970s281980s541990s1522000s2742010s1032020s

Recorded events in Essex County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindTropicalLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 475 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 128 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind346

Flood137

Hail98

Lightning49

Other19

Tornado12

Tropical1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	346	1	4.2%	detail
■ Flood	137	3	7.2%	detail
■ Hail	98	—	6.3%	detail
■ Lightning	49	3	9.8%
■ Other	19	—	6.3%
■ Tornado	12	—	5.9%	detail
■ Tropical	1	—	0.7%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
13 May 2006	Flood	Flood	—	$7.0M	—	2	—	County
6 Sep 2014	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	2	—	County
14 Mar 2010	Flood	Flood	—	$9.8M	—	1	1	County
7 Jul 1989	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	—	—	1	1	County
20 Jun 2008	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	1	County
30 Mar 2010	Flood	Flood	—	$3.3M	—	—	15	County
21 Jul 1962	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$25K	—	—	3	County
8 Aug 1986	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	2	County
16 Jun 1988	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	81 mph	—	—	—	2	County
1 Jul 1968	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	1	County
2 Jul 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$10K	—	—	1	County
3 Jul 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$3K	—	—	1	County
22 Mar 2001	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$10M	—	—	—	County
28 Jul 2007	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
3 Jun 2010	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
6 Sep 2014	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
13 Aug 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	71 mph	$5.0M	—	—	—	County
4 Oct 2011	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
4 Oct 2011	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
4 Oct 2011	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
15 Sep 2023	EM-3599	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Lee	Public assistance
27 Mar 2020	DR-4496	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3438	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
19 Jul 2018	DR-4379	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
25 Jun 2018	DR-4372	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Flooding	Public assistance
13 Apr 2015	DR-4214	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding	Public assistance
19 Apr 2013	DR-4110	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding	Public assistance
28 Oct 2012	EM-3350	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
1 Nov 2011	EM-3343	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storm	Public assistance
26 Aug 2011	EM-3330	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Public assistance
7 Mar 2011	DR-1959	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
2 Sep 2010	EM-3315	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Earl	Public assistance
3 May 2010	EM-3312	Emergency	Other	Water Main Break	Public assistance
29 Mar 2010	DR-1895	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
5 Jan 2009	DR-1813	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Flooding	Public assistance
13 Dec 2008	EM-3296	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
16 May 2007	DR-1701	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Inland And Coastal Flooding	Public assistance
25 May 2006	DR-1642	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Nov 2005	DR-1614	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	—
13 Sep 2005	EM-3252	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
17 Feb 2005	EM-3201	Emergency	Snowstorm	Record And/Or Near Record Snow	Public assistance
21 Apr 2004	DR-1512	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Individual assistance
15 Jan 2004	EM-3191	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
11 Mar 2003	EM-3175	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
10 Apr 2001	DR-1364	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
28 Mar 2001	EM-3165	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
23 Jun 1998	DR-1224	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains And Flooding	Individual assistance
25 Oct 1996	DR-1142	Major disaster	Flood	Extreme Weather Conditons And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
23 Oct 1996	EM-3119	Emergency	Flood	Extreme Weather Conditions And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
24 Jan 1996	DR-1090	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Blizzard Of 96	Public assistance
16 Mar 1993	EM-3103	Emergency	Snowstorm	Blizzards, High Winds & Record Snowfall	Public assistance
21 Dec 1992	DR-975	Major disaster	Coastal Storm	Winter Coastal Storm	Individual assistance, Public assistance
4 Nov 1991	DR-920	Major disaster	Coastal Storm	Coastal Storm	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Aug 1991	DR-914	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Bob	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Apr 1987	DR-790	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Oct 1985	DR-751	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Gloria	Public assistance
3 Dec 1981	DR-650	Major disaster	Fire	Urban Fire	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Feb 1978	DR-546	Major disaster	Flood	Coastal Storms, Flood, Ice & Snow	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Sep 1972	DR-357	Major disaster	Fishing Losses	Toxic Algae In Coastal Waters	Individual assistance
6 Mar 1972	DR-325	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Essex County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19785,456

Paid claims4,256

Total paid$94M

Average paid claim$22K

Repetitive-loss properties59793 severe

Residential policies in force5,5372.8% of 196,259 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	2	1	$7,149	$7,149
2025	7	0	$0	—
2024	165	145	$4,785,020	$33,000
2023	31	16	$350,570	$21,911
2022	44	25	$806,218	$32,249
2021	38	26	$982,655	$37,794
2020	15	6	$117,542	$19,590
2019	9	4	$35,679	$8,920
2018	426	342	$13,386,733	$39,142
2017	39	31	$381,313	$12,300
2016	8	6	$41,126	$6,854
2015	14	7	$144,860	$20,694
2014	50	41	$501,561	$12,233
2013	109	74	$3,640,152	$49,191
2012	27	18	$517,282	$28,738
2011	118	94	$2,615,450	$27,824
2010	360	260	$4,111,926	$15,815
2009	8	2	$26,825	$13,412
2008	21	12	$424,457	$35,371
2007	176	153	$5,373,820	$35,123
2006	662	592	$24,401,398	$41,219
2005	24	13	$184,236	$14,172
2004	93	79	$1,032,781	$13,073
2003	47	33	$561,811	$17,025
2002	8	6	$31,191	$5,198

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Highscore 95.6 of 100

Expected annual loss$199MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Low

Community resilienceVery High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$124,633,913
Coastal flooding	Very High	$19,226,111
Hurricane	Relatively High	$15,008,294
Earthquake	Relatively Moderate	$14,665,774
Tornado	Relatively High	$9,291,479
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$3,775,775
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$3,711,101
Ice storm	Very High	$2,586,762
Strong wind	Relatively High	$1,990,273
Lightning	Relatively High	$1,965,705
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$1,752,533
Wildfire	Very Low	$83,117
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$58,993
Hail	Very Low	$52,817
Landslide	Relatively Low	$3,385

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles47

Tracks within 50 miles19

Hurricane strength within 50 miles3

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Elsa	2021	45 mi	58 mph
Henri	2021	98 mi	46 mph
Andrea	2013	29 mi	46 mph
Hanna	2008	67 mi	52 mph
Barry	2007	17 mi	40 mph
Hermine	2004	79 mi	40 mph
Floyd	1999	47 mi	58 mph
Bertha	1996	65 mi	69 mph
Bob	1991	90 mi	98 mph
Belle	1976	78 mi	40 mph
Doria	1971	93 mi	52 mph
Alma	1966	48 mi	46 mph
Esther	1961	73 mi	58 mph
Brenda	1960	41 mi	46 mph
Donna	1960	20 mi	69 mph
Cindy	1959	66 mi	58 mph
Carol	1954	42 mi	92 mph
Edna	1954	65 mi	109 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1944	45 mi	98 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1934	79 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1934	49 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1923	12 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	26 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	34 mi	69 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	65 mi	40 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

01908 417
01907 411
01930 388
01906 379
01960 367
01952 362
01950 318
01966 291
01841 261
01945 237
01810 210
01905 187
01970 182
01951 164
01915 164
01844 135
01944 103
01929 80
01913 66
01845 61
01830 59
01843 51
01902 51
01904 46
01923 45
01938 37
01940 36
01832 35
01983 27
01833 20
01840 18
01835 17
01901 17
01982 14
01921 13
01949 13
01834 12
01927 9
01860 8
01985 7
01931 6
01922 6
01965 5

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Essex County, MA?

NCEI records 98 hail events in Essex County since 1950, in 34 different years; that is about 1.3 recorded events a year. 10 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Essex County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 12 tornadoes in Essex County since 1950, 2 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Essex County?

15 Sep 2023: Hurricane Lee, a emergency declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 40 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Essex County, and how much was paid?

5,456 NFIP claims since 1978, 4,256 of them paid, for $94M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Essex County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively High" for overall risk, "Relatively High" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Low" for social vulnerability and "Very High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Essex County compare with the rest of Massachusetts?

134.4 recorded events per 100 square miles against 210.6 statewide, and 6.8 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 5.1. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 29 Sep 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 30 Sep 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.