States › New York › Monroe County

Monroe County, New York

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

FIPS 36055 · 755,160 residents (2021) · 657 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 84Tornado · 5Flood · 106Wind · 409Winter · 104

Monroe County within New York. 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 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Monroe County, New York, has 760 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 115.7 events per 100 square miles, in line with the New York figure of 120.3, and 10.1 per 10,000 residents against 28.6 statewide.

13 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 5 deaths and 47 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $63M and crop damage at $4.4M.

FEMA has designated the county in 21 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Covid-19 Pandemic (major disaster, 20 Mar 2020).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 828 claims since 1978, of which 461 were paid, totalling $5.0M (about $11K per paid claim). FEMA counts 963 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Moderate" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Moderate" ($141M a year across 18 hazards).

8 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

13events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

760events since 19505 deaths, 47 injuries recorded

21disaster declarationslast 20 Mar 2020

828NFIP flood claims$5.0M paid

Compared with New York and the United States

Measure	Monroe County	New York	US
Recorded events since 1950	760	56,675	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	115.7	120.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	10.1	28.6	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	13	1,948	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	5	578	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$63M	$5.7B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.1	8.8	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$11K	$40K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	20.8	10.1	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: 1Wind: 7

Hail: 2Wind: 3

Hail: 3Tornado: 1Wind: 13

Hail: 7Tornado: 1Wind: 32

Hail: 3Flood: 21Wind: 52Winter: 16Lightning: 2

Hail: 32Tornado: 1Flood: 22Wind: 75Winter: 38Cold: 2Lightning: 6

Hail: 27Tornado: 1Flood: 44Wind: 119Winter: 36Cold: 14Drought: 5Lightning: 4Other: 3

Hail: 9Tornado: 1Flood: 19Wind: 108Winter: 14Cold: 8Other: 8

81950s51960s171970s401980s941990s1762000s2532010s1672020s

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

Trend: 498 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 195 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

Wind409

Flood106

Winter104

Hail84

Cold24

Lightning12

Other11

Tornado5

Drought5

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	409	4	1.6%	detail
■ Flood	106	—	1.6%	detail
■ Winter	104	1	0.8%	detail
■ Hail	84	—	1.7%	detail
■ Cold	24	—	0.8%
■ Lightning	12	—	2.1%
■ Other	11	—	2.0%
■ Tornado	5	—	0.9%
■ Drought	5	—	1.3%

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
10 Feb 2008	Winter Weather	Winter	—	$500K	—	1	22	Forecast zone
22 Feb 1997	High Wind	Wind	70 mph	$500K	—	1	1	Forecast zone
19 Jun 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	63 mph	$55K	—	1	1	County
17 Feb 2006	High Wind	Wind	77 mph	$500K	—	1	—	Forecast zone
2 Nov 1999	High Wind	Wind	—	$100K	—	1	—	Forecast zone
31 Jul 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	63 mph	$150K	—	—	4	County
9 May 2009	High Wind	Wind	58 mph	$8K	—	—	4	Forecast zone
6 Sep 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	90 mph	$20M	$2.0M	—	1	County
1 Feb 2002	High Wind	Wind	72 mph	$750K	—	—	2	Forecast zone
27 Feb 1997	High Wind	Wind	75 mph	$150K	—	—	2	Forecast zone
30 Oct 1996	High Wind	Wind	—	$25K	—	—	2	Forecast zone
4 Apr 2003	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$12M	$1.5M	—	—	Forecast zone
14 Jul 2005	Lightning	Lightning	—	$50K	—	—	1	County
30 Jul 1996	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
31 May 1998	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
21 Oct 2001	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
13 Nov 2003	High Wind	Wind	60 mph	—	—	—	1	Forecast zone
26 Jul 2005	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
11 Jul 2007	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
11 Jul 2007	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	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
20 Mar 2020	DR-4480	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3434	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
14 Nov 2017	DR-4348	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
28 Oct 2012	EM-3351	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
30 Sep 2005	EM-3262	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
1 Oct 2004	DR-1564	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
3 Aug 2004	DR-1534	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	—
23 Aug 2003	EM-3186	Emergency	Other	Power Outage	Public assistance
12 May 2003	DR-1467	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Ice Storm	Individual assistance, Public assistance
11 Sep 2001	DR-1391	Major disaster	Fire	Fires And Explosions	Public assistance
11 Oct 2000	EM-3155	Emergency	Other	West Nile Virus	Public assistance
10 Mar 1999	EM-3138	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
11 Sep 1998	DR-1244	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Ny - Severe Wx, Sept 7, 1998	Individual assistance, Public assistance
7 Jul 1998	DR-1233	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
6 Jan 1998	DR-1196	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance
17 Mar 1993	EM-3107	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Blizzard	Public assistance
21 Mar 1991	DR-898	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
19 Mar 1976	DR-494	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Ice Storm,Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 Nov 1974	EM-3004	Emergency	Flood	Floodng (Nys Barge Canal)	Individual assistance
21 Mar 1973	DR-367	Major disaster	Flood	High Winds, Wave Action & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
23 Jun 1972	DR-338	Major disaster	Flood	Tropical Storm Agnes	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 Monroe County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978828

Paid claims461

Total paid$5.0M

Average paid claim$11K

Repetitive-loss properties424 severe

Residential policies in force9630.4% of 243,537 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	11	8	$39,018	$4,877
2025	9	8	$297,459	$37,182
2024	1	0	$0	—
2023	5	5	$75,262	$15,052
2022	2	0	$0	—
2021	9	5	$48,182	$9,636
2020	2	1	$54,685	$54,685
2019	37	26	$330,162	$12,699
2018	5	1	$41,458	$41,458
2017	119	73	$998,108	$13,673
2015	5	1	$4,290	$4,290
2014	23	11	$259,523	$23,593
2013	11	7	$128,575	$18,368
2012	8	4	$13,922	$3,480
2011	11	5	$57,546	$11,509
2010	1	0	$0	—
2009	2	1	$5,516	$5,516
2008	5	3	$14,533	$4,844
2007	7	5	$21,787	$4,357
2006	8	5	$29,274	$5,855
2005	13	5	$70,339	$14,068
2004	73	63	$1,215,023	$19,286
2003	6	1	$11,821	$11,821
2002	5	2	$6,142	$3,071
2001	5	3	$7,186	$2,395

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 Moderatescore 93.8 of 100

Expected annual loss$141MRelatively Moderate

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceVery High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$102,608,554
Cold wave	Relatively High	$20,093,284
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$5,777,087
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$5,754,210
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$2,478,474
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$1,246,671
Ice storm	Relatively High	$813,591
Winter weather	Relatively High	$711,461
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$637,705
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$521,102
Drought	Relatively Low	$218,141
Hail	Very Low	$130,120
Wildfire	Very Low	$38,845
Coastal flooding	Very Low	$14,176
Landslide	Very Low	$467

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 miles8

Tracks within 50 miles4

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Frances	2004	31 mi	40 mph
Opal	1995	35 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1933	92 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1903	39 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1893	38 mi	69 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1885	93 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1878	65 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1876	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

14612 132
14468 101
14623 91
14534 56
14625 51
14580 42
14464 41
14624 39
14617 38
14622 32
14546 31
14618 31
14606 25
14559 18
14506 13
14626 12
14609 8
14428 6
14472 6
14616 6

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 Monroe County, NY?

NCEI records 84 hail events in Monroe County since 1950, in 35 different years; that is about 1.1 recorded events a year. 9 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Monroe County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 5 tornadoes in Monroe County since 1950, 0 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Monroe County?

20 Mar 2020: Covid-19 Pandemic, a major disaster declaration for biological. The county appears in 21 declarations since 1953.

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

828 NFIP claims since 1978, 461 of them paid, for $5.0M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Monroe County compare with the rest of New York?

115.7 recorded events per 100 square miles against 120.3 statewide, and 1.1 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.8. 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.