States › New York › Sullivan County

Sullivan 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 36105 · 79,806 residents (2021) · 968 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 119Tornado · 12Flood · 86Wind · 349Winter · 100

Sullivan 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 29 Sep 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

The NCEI record lists 701 events for Sullivan County, New York, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 72.4 events per 100 square miles, below the New York figure of 120.3, and 87.8 per 10,000 residents against 28.6 statewide.

21 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 3 deaths and 18 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $216M and crop damage at $227K.

FEMA has designated the county in 35 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Remnants Of Hurricane Ida (major disaster, 5 Sep 2021).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 945 claims since 1978, of which 794 were paid, totalling $16M (about $20K per paid claim). FEMA counts 354 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($37M a year across 18 hazards).

23 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 1 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

21events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

701events since 19503 deaths, 18 injuries recorded

35disaster declarationslast 5 Sep 2021

945NFIP flood claims$16M paid

Compared with New York and the United States

Measure	Sullivan County	New York	US
Recorded events since 1950	701	56,675	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	72.4	120.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	87.8	28.6	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	21	1,948	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	3	578	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$216M	$5.7B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	11.8	8.8	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$20K	$40K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	11.0	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

Wind: 1

Tornado: 1Wind: 2

Hail: 1Tornado: 1Wind: 2

Hail: 7Tornado: 2Wind: 12

Hail: 5Tornado: 3Flood: 9Wind: 63Winter: 17Cold: 5Drought: 3Lightning: 1

Hail: 52Tornado: 2Flood: 36Wind: 79Winter: 47Heat: 2Cold: 6Drought: 1Lightning: 5Other: 6

Hail: 43Tornado: 1Flood: 27Wind: 72Winter: 21Heat: 2Other: 1

Hail: 11Tornado: 2Flood: 14Wind: 118Winter: 15Cold: 1Drought: 2

11950s31960s41970s211980s1061990s2362000s1672010s1632020s

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

Trend: 431 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 246 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

Wind349

Hail119

Winter100

Flood86

Tornado12

Cold12

Other7

Drought6

Lightning6

Heat4

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	349	—	1.4%	detail
■ Hail	119	—	2.3%	detail
■ Winter	100	—	0.7%	detail
■ Flood	86	2	1.3%	detail
■ Tornado	12	—	2.1%	detail
■ Cold	12	—	0.4%
■ Other	7	—	1.3%
■ Drought	6	—	1.6%
■ Lightning	6	1	1.0%
■ Heat	4	—	0.3%

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
27 Jun 2006	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$100M	—	1	—	County
1 Oct 2010	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$10K	—	1	—	County
3 Aug 1996	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
9 May 1961	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	4	County
2 Jun 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	—	—	—	4	County
16 Nov 1989	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$25M	—	—	—	County
9 Jun 1972	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	2	County
16 Jun 1986	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	2	County
6 Jun 2026	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$1K	—	—	2	County
30 Aug 2004	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$20M	—	—	—	County
18 Sep 2004	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$15M	—	—	—	County
23 Jul 2008	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$15M	—	—	—	County
28 Sep 1996	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$500K	—	—	1	County
28 Sep 1996	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$500K	—	—	1	County
22 May 2013	Hail	Hail	1.75 in	$10K	—	—	1	County
12 Aug 2000	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	1	County
2 Apr 2005	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$10M	—	—	—	County
19 Jan 1996	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$8.7M	—	—	—	County
18 Sep 2004	Flood	Flood	—	$2.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
12 Aug 2000	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.3M	—	—	—	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
5 Sep 2021	DR-4615	Major disaster	Hurricane	Remnants Of Hurricane Ida	Public assistance
2 Sep 2021	EM-3572	Emergency	Hurricane	Remnants Of Hurricane Ida	Public assistance
22 Aug 2021	EM-3565	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Henri	Public assistance
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
12 Jul 2017	DR-4322	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
30 Oct 2012	DR-4085	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Oct 2012	EM-3351	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	Public assistance
8 Sep 2011	EM-3341	Emergency	Severe Storm	Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee	Public assistance
31 Aug 2011	DR-4020	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Aug 2011	EM-3328	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	Public assistance
18 Dec 2008	EM-3299	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
2 Jul 2007	DR-1710	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
12 Dec 2006	DR-1670	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
1 Jul 2006	DR-1650	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
30 Sep 2005	EM-3262	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
19 Apr 2005	DR-1589	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
1 Oct 2004	DR-1565	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Tropical Depression Ivan	Individual assistance, 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	—
29 Aug 2003	DR-1486	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes	Public assistance
23 Aug 2003	EM-3186	Emergency	Other	Power Outage	Public assistance
27 Mar 2003	EM-3184	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
25 Feb 2003	EM-3173	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snowstorms	Public assistance
11 Sep 2001	DR-1391	Major disaster	Fire	Fires And Explosions	Individual assistance, Public assistance
11 Oct 2000	EM-3155	Emergency	Other	West Nile Virus	Public assistance
21 Jul 2000	DR-1335	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
7 Jul 1998	DR-1233	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
24 Jan 1996	DR-1095	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
12 Jan 1996	DR-1083	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Blizzard Of 96 (Severe Snow Storm)	Public assistance
17 Mar 1993	EM-3107	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Blizzard	Public assistance
17 Apr 1984	DR-702	Major disaster	Flood	Coastal Storms & Flooding	Public assistance
20 Jul 1973	DR-401	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Aug 1969	DR-275	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Aug 1965	DR-204	Major disaster	Drought	Water Shortage	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 Sullivan County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978945

Paid claims794

Total paid$16M

Average paid claim$20K

Repetitive-loss properties15019 severe

Residential policies in force3540.8% of 47,398 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	6	1	$19,841	$19,841
2022	2	2	$4,579	$2,290
2021	10	5	$63,146	$12,629
2020	3	3	$36,666	$12,222
2018	5	3	$102,450	$34,150
2017	13	11	$173,027	$15,730
2014	29	23	$405,447	$17,628
2013	5	0	$0	—
2012	39	30	$347,213	$11,574
2011	93	77	$1,187,679	$15,424
2010	15	13	$99,382	$7,645
2009	50	46	$545,093	$11,850
2008	10	9	$53,029	$5,892
2007	6	6	$32,132	$5,355
2006	237	227	$8,904,855	$39,228
2005	133	122	$1,766,685	$14,481
2004	94	70	$1,546,424	$22,092
2003	6	3	$10,024	$3,341
2002	1	0	$0	—
2001	3	2	$4,258	$2,129
2000	37	31	$433,355	$13,979
1999	1	0	$0	—
1998	4	2	$8,196	$4,098
1997	1	0	$0	—
1996	34	26	$300,064	$11,541

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 Lowscore 78.3 of 100

Expected annual loss$37MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$26,743,427
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$3,108,415
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$2,461,709
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$1,588,343
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$781,366
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$674,801
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$564,179
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$222,454
Hail	Relatively Low	$137,506
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$97,566
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$91,862
Wildfire	Very Low	$12,776
Landslide	Relatively Low	$10,498
Drought	Very Low	$9,478
Avalanche	Very Low	$160

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 miles23

Tracks within 50 miles4

Hurricane strength within 50 miles1

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Isaias	2020	59 mi	63 mph
Irene	2011	87 mi	63 mph
David	1979	80 mi	46 mph
Belle	1976	95 mi	69 mph
Agnes	1972	14 mi	52 mph
Doria	1971	66 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1968	93 mi	63 mph
Brenda	1960	98 mi	58 mph
Diane	1955	85 mi	46 mph
Able	1952	65 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1934	99 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1933	91 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1929	41 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	62 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1903	57 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1899	56 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1893	84 mi	86 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1893	58 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1878	36 mi	81 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1874	83 mi	69 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1872	92 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1866	49 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1863	68 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

12758 302
12776 165
12748 92
12764 47
12701 43
12790 31
12791 28
12723 23
12785 23
12721 21
12719 20
12725 19
12751 16
12726 13
12760 13
12754 11
12768 11
12770 10
12724 9
12788 9
12740 8
12741 8
12745 8
12783 8
12759 7
12778 6
12779 6
12736 5
12749 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 Sullivan County, NY?

NCEI records 119 hail events in Sullivan County since 1950, in 26 different years; that is about 1.5 recorded events a year. 22 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Sullivan County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 12 tornadoes in Sullivan County since 1950, 3 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Sullivan County?

5 Sep 2021: Remnants Of Hurricane Ida, a major disaster declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 35 declarations since 1953.

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

945 NFIP claims since 1978, 794 of them paid, for $16M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

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

72.4 recorded events per 100 square miles against 120.3 statewide, and 11.8 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 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.