States › New York › Wayne County

Wayne 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 36117 · 90,923 residents (2021) · 604 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 65Tornado · 4Flood · 48Wind · 292Winter · 120

Wayne 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.

Wayne County, New York, has 556 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 92.1 events per 100 square miles, below the New York figure of 120.3, and 61.2 per 10,000 residents against 28.6 statewide.

16 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 0 deaths and 3 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $39M and crop damage at $31M.

FEMA has designated the county in 17 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 209 claims since 1978, of which 146 were paid, totalling $2.5M (about $17K per paid claim). FEMA counts 146 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" ($19M 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.

16events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

556events since 19500 deaths, 3 injuries recorded

17disaster declarationslast 20 Mar 2020

209NFIP flood claims$2.5M paid

Compared with New York and the United States

Measure	Wayne County	New York	US
Recorded events since 1950	556	56,675	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	92.1	120.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	61.2	28.6	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	16	1,948	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	0	578	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$39M	$5.7B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.3	8.8	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$17K	$40K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	75.3	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: 2

Hail: 1Wind: 5

Hail: 2Tornado: 1Wind: 16

Hail: 6Flood: 9Wind: 36Winter: 21

Hail: 23Tornado: 1Flood: 11Wind: 46Winter: 43Cold: 2Lightning: 1

Hail: 30Tornado: 1Flood: 24Wind: 108Winter: 44Cold: 13Drought: 3Other: 3

Hail: 1Tornado: 1Flood: 4Wind: 81Winter: 12Cold: 5

21950s01960s61970s191980s721990s1272000s2262010s1042020s

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

Trend: 391 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 136 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

Wind292

Winter120

Hail65

Flood48

Cold20

Tornado4

Drought3

Other3

Lightning1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	292	—	1.2%	detail
■ Winter	120	—	0.9%	detail
■ Hail	65	—	1.3%	detail
■ Flood	48	—	0.7%	detail
■ Cold	20	—	0.7%
■ Tornado	4	—	0.7%
■ Drought	3	—	0.8%
■ Other	3	—	0.5%
■ Lightning	1	—	0.2%

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
20 Jul 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	63 mph	$75K	—	—	2	County
15 May 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$50K	—	—	1	County
4 Apr 2003	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$5.0M	$5.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
7 Sep 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$5.0M	$500K	—	—	County
6 Sep 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$5.0M	—	—	—	County
16 Jun 2008	Hail	Hail	1.00 in	$25K	$3.5M	—	—	County
16 Jun 2008	Hail	Hail	0.88 in	$25K	$3.5M	—	—	County
16 Jun 2008	Hail	Hail	1.50 in	$25K	$3.5M	—	—	County
16 Jun 2008	Hail	Hail	0.75 in	$25K	$3.5M	—	—	County
16 Jun 2008	Hail	Hail	1.00 in	$25K	$3.5M	—	—	County
16 Jun 2008	Hail	Hail	1.00 in	$25K	$3.5M	—	—	County
16 Jun 2008	Hail	Hail	1.00 in	$25K	$3.5M	—	—	County
17 May 2019	Flood	Flood	—	$3.0M	—	—	—	County
9 Jun 1980	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
12 Jul 2006	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$1.5M	$200K	—	—	County
1 Jun 2019	Flood	Flood	—	$1.5M	—	—	—	County
4 Mar 1999	Blizzard	Winter	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Jul 2019	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	County
20 May 2019	Lakeshore Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
29 May 2002	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$750K	—	—	—	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
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
17 Mar 1993	EM-3107	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Blizzard	Public assistance
21 Mar 1991	DR-898	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm	Public 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 Wayne County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978209

Paid claims146

Total paid$2.5M

Average paid claim$17K

Repetitive-loss properties141 severe

Residential policies in force1460.4% of 34,127 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	2	2	$13,669	$6,834
2020	5	3	$19,482	$6,494
2019	62	46	$994,525	$21,620
2018	3	2	$43,026	$21,513
2017	38	26	$909,746	$34,990
2014	3	2	$42,198	$21,099
2012	1	1	$43,694	$43,694
2006	8	8	$37,680	$4,710
2005	3	2	$55,118	$27,559
2004	3	2	$8,374	$4,187
2002	2	2	$14,662	$7,331
2001	1	0	$0	—
2000	2	0	$0	—
1998	11	8	$135,469	$16,934
1996	2	2	$2,660	$1,330
1995	1	0	$0	—
1994	3	0	$0	—
1993	29	22	$120,933	$5,497
1992	6	4	$2,963	$741
1991	2	0	$0	—
1989	2	0	$0	—
1987	3	1	$500	$500
1986	3	1	$844	$844
1984	2	1	$368	$368
1981	2	1	$2,610	$2,610

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 56.3 of 100

Expected annual loss$19MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Low

Community resilienceVery High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$14,478,661
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$1,084,255
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$858,556
Tornado	Relatively Low	$801,552
Earthquake	Very Low	$363,676
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$350,622
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$318,911
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$283,199
Lightning	Relatively Low	$247,823
Hurricane	Very Low	$156,066
Drought	Relatively Low	$41,022
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$37,141
Wildfire	Very Low	$26,964
Landslide	Very Low	$990
Coastal flooding	Very Low	$1

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 miles3

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Frances	2004	44 mi	40 mph
Opal	1995	68 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1933	68 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1903	15 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1893	45 mi	69 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1885	84 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1878	90 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1876	50 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

14555 72
14590 63
14433 21
14513 12
13143 10
14516 9
14519 8

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 Wayne County, NY?

NCEI records 65 hail events in Wayne County since 1950, in 22 different years; that is about 0.8 recorded events a year. 5 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Wayne County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 4 tornadoes in Wayne County since 1950, 1 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Wayne County?

20 Mar 2020: Covid-19 Pandemic, a major disaster declaration for biological. The county appears in 17 declarations since 1953.

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

209 NFIP claims since 1978, 146 of them paid, for $2.5M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Wayne 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 Low" for social vulnerability and "Very High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

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

92.1 recorded events per 100 square miles against 120.3 statewide, and 2.3 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.