States › Massachusetts › Nantucket County

Nantucket 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 25019 · 14,491 residents (2021) · 46 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 2Tornado · 0Flood · 36Wind · 192Winter · 44

Nantucket County within Massachusetts. Dots: HailFloodWind 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 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

The NCEI record lists 297 events for Nantucket County, Massachusetts, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 643.0 events per 100 square miles, above the Massachusetts figure of 210.6, and 205.0 per 10,000 residents against 23.5 statewide.

1 event fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 0 deaths and 0 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $1.6M.

FEMA has designated the county in 20 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Hurricane Lee (emergency, 15 Sep 2023).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 602 claims since 1978, of which 471 were paid, totalling $18M (about $37K per paid claim). FEMA counts 714 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($23M a year across 18 hazards).

84 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 12 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

1events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

297events since 19500 deaths, 0 injuries recorded

20disaster declarationslast 15 Sep 2023

602NFIP flood claims$18M paid

Compared with Massachusetts and the United States

Measure	Nantucket County	Massachusetts	US
Recorded events since 1950	297	16,427	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	643.0	210.6	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	205.0	23.5	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	1	307	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	0	160	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$1.6M	$1.2B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	41.5	5.1	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$37K	$16K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	7.6	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

Wind: 1

Hail: 1

Flood: 3Wind: 57Winter: 9Other: 7

Flood: 9Wind: 54Winter: 16Tropical: 3Other: 2

Flood: 19Wind: 63Winter: 18Tropical: 6Drought: 2Lightning: 2

Hail: 1Flood: 5Wind: 17Winter: 1Lightning: 1

11950s01960s01970s11980s761990s842000s1102010s252020s

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

Trend: 166 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

Wind192

Winter44

Flood36

Tropical9

Other9

Lightning3

Hail2

Drought2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	192	—	2.3%	detail
■ Winter	44	—	1.5%	detail
■ Flood	36	—	1.9%	detail
■ Tropical	9	—	6.5%
■ Other	9	—	3.0%
■ Lightning	3	—	0.6%
■ Hail	2	—	0.1%
■ Drought	2	—	1.0%

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
7 Jan 1996	Heavy Snow	Winter	—	$400K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
29 Oct 2012	Coastal Flood	Flood	—	$139K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
23 Jan 2005	Storm Surge/Tide	Tropical	—	$100K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
9 Feb 2013	Coastal Flood	Flood	—	$100K	—	—	—	Forecast zone

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
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
19 Dec 2012	DR-4097	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
28 Oct 2012	EM-3350	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
26 Aug 2011	EM-3330	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Public assistance
2 Sep 2010	EM-3315	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Earl	Public assistance
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
11 Mar 2003	EM-3175	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	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	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

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 Nantucket County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978602

Paid claims471

Total paid$18M

Average paid claim$37K

Repetitive-loss properties658 severe

Residential policies in force7147.5% of 9,533 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	1	0	$0	—
2023	1	1	$1,685	$1,685
2022	5	3	$30,542	$10,181
2021	2	1	$5,295	$5,295
2020	3	1	$4,791	$4,791
2019	3	0	$0	—
2018	35	30	$915,204	$30,507
2017	4	1	$1,812	$1,812
2016	4	3	$5,917	$1,972
2015	75	62	$2,182,690	$35,205
2014	3	2	$101,235	$50,617
2013	41	37	$1,866,618	$50,449
2012	17	12	$372,545	$31,045
2011	2	0	$0	—
2010	12	8	$642,231	$80,279
2009	6	5	$123,762	$24,752
2008	2	1	$126,000	$126,000
2007	14	10	$1,111,781	$111,178
2006	4	2	$65,579	$32,789
2005	1	1	$72,544	$72,544
2004	6	3	$5,383	$1,794
2003	4	1	$9,402	$9,402
2002	6	3	$255,983	$85,328
2001	4	3	$10,220	$3,407
2000	2	2	$1,771	$885

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 riskVery Lowscore 38.7 of 100

Expected annual loss$23MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityVery Low

Community resilienceVery High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$16,863,569
Inland flooding	Very Low	$3,755,862
Coastal flooding	Relatively Moderate	$2,058,686
Earthquake	Very Low	$65,411
Lightning	Very Low	$36,412
Tornado	Very Low	$25,175
Strong wind	Very Low	$17,433
Hail	Very Low	$16,575
Cold wave	Very Low	$15,671
Drought	Very Low	$11,846
Wildfire	Very Low	$8,227
Winter weather	Very Low	$1,631
Ice storm	Very Low	$162
Landslide	Very Low	$4

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 miles84

Tracks within 50 miles28

Hurricane strength within 50 miles12

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Elsa	2021	67 mi	58 mph
Henri	2021	75 mi	63 mph
Ida	2021	22 mi	46 mph
Wanda	2021	37 mi	69 mph
Arthur	2014	78 mi	75 mph
Andrea	2013	78 mi	46 mph
Earl	2010	98 mi	69 mph
Hanna	2008	93 mi	52 mph
Barry	2007	84 mi	40 mph
Noel	2007	100 mi	81 mph
Beryl	2006	0 mi	52 mph
Ophelia	2005	92 mi	58 mph
Gaston	2004	78 mi	40 mph
Hermine	2004	44 mi	40 mph
Danny	1997	42 mi	58 mph
Josephine	1996	51 mi	52 mph
Bob	1991	68 mi	104 mph
Alberto	1988	59 mi	40 mph
Charley	1986	81 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1981	93 mi	63 mph
Carrie	1972	34 mi	69 mph
Heidi	1971	71 mi	58 mph
Gerda	1969	46 mi	121 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1967	42 mi	52 mph
Alma	1966	53 mi	46 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

02554 535
02564 52
02584 7

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 Nantucket County, MA?

NCEI records 2 hail events in Nantucket County since 1950, in 2 different years; that is about 0.0 recorded events a year. 0 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Nantucket County had a tornado?

NCEI records no tornado in Nantucket County since 1950.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Nantucket County?

15 Sep 2023: Hurricane Lee, a emergency declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 20 declarations since 1953.

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

602 NFIP claims since 1978, 471 of them paid, for $18M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Nantucket County compare with the rest of Massachusetts?

643.0 recorded events per 100 square miles against 210.6 statewide, and 41.5 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 1 Oct 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 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.