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Massachusetts

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

Massachusetts has 16,427 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 14 counties, led by damaging wind: 210.6 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 160 deaths and 2,045 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $1.2B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Suffolk, Nantucket and Dukes.

FEMA lists 59 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm (30 Jun 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 35,375 flood claims since 1978, $441M paid; 36,939 residential policies are in force.

307events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

16,427events since 1950210.6 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

59disaster declarations since 1953last 30 Jun 2026

35,375NFIP flood claims$441M 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	Massachusetts	US
Recorded events since 1950	16,427	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	210.6	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	23.5	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	160	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$1.2B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	5.1	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$16K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	36,939	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Wind8,300

Winter3,028

Flood1,890

Hail1,547

Lightning501

Other300

Drought208

Tornado205

Cold173

Tropical138

Heat127

Wildfire10

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Wind	8,300	1.2%	28
■ Winter	3,028	1.1%	12
■ Flood	1,890	1.0%	3
■ Hail	1,547	0.4%	—
■ Lightning	501	2.8%	8
■ Other	300	0.7%	—
■ Drought	208	0.2%	—
■ Tornado	205	0.3%	105
■ Cold	173	0.3%	1
■ Tropical	138	1.2%	—
■ Heat	127	0.2%	3
■ Wildfire	10	0.1%	—

Events by decade

Hail: 21Tornado: 41Wind: 36

Hail: 38Tornado: 36Wind: 71

Hail: 32Tornado: 36Wind: 101

Hail: 53Tornado: 17Wind: 198

Hail: 246Tornado: 15Flood: 153Wind: 1324Winter: 483Heat: 39Cold: 1Drought: 5Lightning: 48Other: 221

Hail: 516Tornado: 10Flood: 362Wind: 1679Winter: 923Tropical: 39Heat: 13Cold: 33Wildfire: 1Lightning: 211Other: 61

Hail: 504Tornado: 26Flood: 892Wind: 2993Winter: 1219Tropical: 56Heat: 52Cold: 98Drought: 193Wildfire: 5Lightning: 183Other: 11

Hail: 137Tornado: 24Flood: 483Wind: 1898Winter: 403Tropical: 43Heat: 23Cold: 41Drought: 10Wildfire: 4Lightning: 59Other: 7

981950s1451960s1691970s2681980s2,5351990s3,8482000s6,2322010s3,1322020s

Recorded events in Massachusetts 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
Suffolk County	539	5	925.3	7.0	Wind	1	24	38	4,369	Relatively Moderate
Nantucket County	297	1	643.0	205.0	Wind	0	2	20	602	Very Low
Dukes County	267	2	258.7	126.6	Wind	1	10	22	160	Very Low
Barnstable County	752	4	190.8	32.4	Wind	8	49	24	3,184	Relatively Moderate
Hampden County	915	11	148.3	19.8	Wind	19	239	24	279	Relatively Moderate
Norfolk County	566	19	142.9	7.8	Wind	15	82	38	3,262	Relatively Moderate
Middlesex County	1,140	26	139.4	7.1	Wind	21	183	35	3,752	Relatively High
Essex County	662	9	134.4	8.2	Wind	12	98	40	5,456	Relatively High
Hampshire County	645	24	122.3	39.9	Wind	9	139	23	215	Relatively Low
Berkshire County	1,067	22	115.1	82.9	Wind	19	177	23	388	Relatively Moderate
Franklin County	709	16	101.4	99.8	Wind	25	110	22	114	Relatively Low
Bristol County	528	20	95.5	9.1	Wind	13	80	30	1,558	Relatively Moderate
Worcester County	1,269	38	84.0	14.7	Wind	52	255	32	765	Relatively Moderate
Plymouth County	441	12	67.0	8.3	Wind	10	82	32	10,959	Relatively Moderate

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
Norfolk County	452	3,015	15.0	3,262	$26M
Essex County	775	5,537	14.0	5,456	$94M
Plymouth County	855	7,128	12.0	10,959	$153M
Suffolk County	284	3,270	8.7	4,369	$29M
Nantucket County	54	714	7.6	602	$18M
Worcester County	79	1,081	7.3	765	$13M
Barnstable County	531	7,485	7.1	3,184	$43M
Hampshire County	24	339	7.1	215	$2.0M
Franklin County	7	146	4.8	114	$3.8M
Bristol County	117	2,598	4.5	1,558	$14M
Middlesex County	180	4,000	4.5	3,752	$36M
Berkshire County	16	414	3.9	388	$3.1M
Hampden County	18	496	3.6	279	$2.7M
Dukes County	13	716	1.8	160	$1.7M

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 Massachusetts by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Hurricane	12
Severe Storm	12
Snowstorm	10
Flood	8
Biological	4
Fire	4
Tornado	2
Coastal Storm	2
Winter Storm	1
Terrorist	1

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

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
30 Jun 2026	DR-4919	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	0
15 May 2024	DR-4780	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	2
15 Sep 2023	EM-3599	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Lee	14
18 Apr 2022	DR-4651	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	4
22 Aug 2021	EM-3566	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Henri	0
27 Mar 2020	DR-4496	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	14
13 Mar 2020	EM-3497	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	0
13 Mar 2020	EM-3484	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	0
13 Mar 2020	EM-3438	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	14
19 Jul 2018	DR-4379	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	5
25 Jun 2018	DR-4372	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Flooding	6
13 Apr 2015	DR-4214	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding	10
19 Apr 2013	DR-4110	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding	14
17 Apr 2013	EM-3362	Emergency	Terrorist	Explosions	4
19 Dec 2012	DR-4097	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	6

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

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

35,375 claims, 27,705 paid, $441M in total; 3,398 repetitive-loss and 480 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Massachusetts with flood claims (387).

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 1951

Questions and answers

Which Massachusetts counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Worcester (52), Franklin (25) and Middlesex (21), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which Massachusetts counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Plymouth (10,959), Essex (5,456) and Suffolk (4,369) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has Massachusetts had?

59 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 1 of them in 2026 so far.

How does Massachusetts compare with the national rate?

210.6 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 5.1 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.