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Connecticut

The recorded hazard history of every county in Connecticut: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.

Connecticut has 7,161 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 8 counties, led by damaging wind: 147.9 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 65 deaths and 947 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $848M. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Hartford, Fairfield and Tolland.

FEMA lists 43 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Hawthorne Fire (24 Oct 2024). NFIP policyholders filed 29,492 flood claims since 1978, $555M paid; 0 residential policies are in force.

235events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

7,161events since 1950147.9 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

43disaster declarations since 1953last 24 Oct 2024

29,492NFIP flood claims$555M paid

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. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Compared with the United States

Measure	Connecticut	US
Recorded events since 1950	7,161	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	147.9	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	19.9	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	65	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$848M	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	8.2	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$24K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	0	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Wind3,085

Winter1,461

Flood1,033

Hail691

Heat185

Lightning171

Other145

Cold140

Tornado130

Drought73

Tropical46

Wildfire1

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Wind	3,085	0.4%	28
■ Winter	1,461	0.5%	9
■ Flood	1,033	0.6%	13
■ Hail	691	0.2%	—
■ Heat	185	0.3%	1
■ Lightning	171	0.9%	4
■ Other	145	0.3%	4
■ Cold	140	0.3%	—
■ Tornado	130	0.2%	4
■ Drought	73	0.1%	—
■ Tropical	46	0.4%	2
■ Wildfire	1	0.0%	—

Events by decade

Hail: 5Tornado: 17Wind: 8

Hail: 27Tornado: 10Wind: 27

Hail: 18Tornado: 20Wind: 42

Hail: 9Tornado: 9Wind: 85

Hail: 117Tornado: 15Flood: 167Wind: 474Winter: 146Heat: 26Drought: 2Lightning: 32Other: 75

Hail: 256Tornado: 16Flood: 279Wind: 701Winter: 405Tropical: 8Heat: 25Cold: 52Drought: 24Wildfire: 1Lightning: 62Other: 52

Hail: 200Tornado: 23Flood: 306Wind: 995Winter: 617Tropical: 14Heat: 78Cold: 55Drought: 25Lightning: 62Other: 11

Hail: 59Tornado: 20Flood: 281Wind: 753Winter: 293Tropical: 24Heat: 56Cold: 33Drought: 22Lightning: 15Other: 7

301950s641960s801970s1031980s1,0541990s1,8812000s2,3862010s1,5632020s

Recorded events in Connecticut by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Counties by events per 100 square miles

County	Events	Last 12 mo	Per 100 sq mi	Per 10k residents	Dominant	Tornadoes	Hail	Declarations	NFIP claims	NRI risk
Hartford County	1,108	22	150.8	12.4	Wind	18	166	30	1,922	—
Fairfield County	823	15	131.7	8.6	Wind	17	79	33	12,667	—
Tolland County	517	9	126.0	34.4	Wind	15	61	28	167	—
New Haven County	646	29	106.9	7.5	Wind	21	66	36	9,609	—
Litchfield County	976	28	106.0	52.8	Wind	38	164	31	479	—
Windham County	473	12	92.2	40.6	Wind	9	49	28	74	—
Middlesex County	233	5	63.1	14.1	Wind	8	41	28	2,242	—
New London County	356	7	53.5	13.2	Wind	4	62	30	2,155	—

Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).

Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force

County	Claims, last 10 years	Policies in force	Claims per 100 policies	Claims since 1978	Paid

Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.

Federal disaster declarations by year

195319902026

Declarations touching Connecticut by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Hurricane	14
Severe Storm	12
Snowstorm	8
Tornado	3
Flood	3
Biological	2
Fire	1

Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
24 Oct 2024	FM-5542	Fire management assistance	Fire	Hawthorne Fire	2
20 Sep 2024	DR-4820	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	3
21 Aug 2024	EM-3612	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides	3
13 Jan 2024	EM-3604	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And A Potential Dam Breach	1
30 Oct 2021	DR-4629	Major disaster	Hurricane	Remnants Of Hurricane Ida	5
22 Aug 2021	EM-3564	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Henri	8
12 Jan 2021	DR-4580	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Isaias	8
6 Aug 2020	EM-3535	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Isaias	8
28 Mar 2020	DR-4500	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	8
13 Mar 2020	EM-3439	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	8
5 Dec 2018	DR-4410	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	2
20 Aug 2018	DR-4385	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds	2
8 Apr 2015	DR-4213	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	4
21 Mar 2013	DR-4106	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	8
10 Feb 2013	EM-3361	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	8

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

NFIP claims in Connecticut by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.

29,492 claims, 23,202 paid, $555M in total; 3,132 repetitive-loss and 367 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Connecticut with flood claims (213).

Year by year

Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1950

Questions and answers

Which Connecticut counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Litchfield (38), New Haven (21) and Hartford (18), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which Connecticut counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Fairfield (12,667), New Haven (9,609) and Middlesex (2,242) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has Connecticut had?

43 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 0 of them in 2026 so far.

How does Connecticut compare with the national rate?

147.9 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 8.2 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.

Provenance

NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.