States › New York › 1996

New York, 1996

The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.

1,606events recorded585 in 1995

23deaths recorded95 injuries

$297Mproperty damage (estimates)$645K crop damage

4disaster declarations4,010 NFIP claims, $38M 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.

Events by hazard

Wind483

Flood474

Winter426

Cold87

Hail50

Other48

Lightning23

Tornado11

Heat4

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 1996 was 1,606 against 585 in 1995.

Counties with the most recorded events

County	Events in 1996
Orange County	39
Nassau County	33
Chautauqua County	30
Queens County	30
Rockland County	30
Broome County	29
Schoharie County	29
Sullivan County	29
Westchester County	29
Putnam County	28
Montgomery County	26
Bronx County	25
Chenango County	24
Delaware County	23
Otsego County	23
Onondaga County	22
Tioga County	21
Cortland County	20
Ulster County	18
Chemung County	17
Monroe County	16
Oswego County	16
Dutchess County	15
Lewis County	15
Madison County	15

Notable events

Date	County	Event type	Magnitude	Property damage	Deaths	Injuries
19 Jan 1996	Delaware	Flash Flood	—	$9,300,000	6	—
3 Jun 1996	Queens	Flood	—	—	2	21
19 Jan 1996	Schoharie	Flood	—	$12,000,000	2	—
6 Mar 1996	Tompkins	Heavy Snow	—	—	2	1
19 Oct 1996	Forecast zone	High Wind	58 mph	—	2	—
6 Dec 1996	Forecast zone	Coastal Flood	—	—	1	1
31 Dec 1996	Suffolk	Winter Weather	—	—	1	1
6 Mar 1996	Onondaga	Heavy Snow	—	—	1	1
3 Mar 1996	Tompkins	Heavy Snow	—	—	1	1
19 Jan 1996	Forecast zone	Flood	—	$3,000,000	1	—
19 Jan 1996	Cayuga	Flash Flood	—	$1,400,000	1	—
25 Feb 1996	Forecast zone	High Wind	—	—	1	—
3 Aug 1996	Sullivan	Lightning	—	—	1	—
19 Oct 1996	Forecast zone	High Wind	81 mph	—	1	—
31 Dec 1996	Queens	Winter Weather	—	—	—	15
31 Dec 1996	Kings	Winter Weather	—	—	—	6
6 Mar 1996	Cortland	Heavy Snow	—	—	—	6
8 Aug 1996	Onondaga	Lightning	—	$10,000	—	5
27 Jan 1996	Delaware	High Wind	—	$25,000	—	4
22 Jun 1996	Ontario	Thunderstorm Wind	—	$90,000	—	3
27 Jan 1996	Niagara	High Wind	—	$45,000	—	3
15 Jul 1996	Oswego	Tornado	F0	$35,000	—	3
22 Apr 1996	Rensselaer	Thunderstorm Wind	—	$20,000	—	3
9 Nov 1996	Clinton	Flash Flood	—	$23,000,000	—	—
9 Nov 1996	Delaware	Flash Flood	—	$500,000	—	2
25 Mar 1996	Forecast zone	High Wind	—	$25,000	—	2
30 Oct 1996	Monroe	High Wind	—	$25,000	—	2
23 Aug 1996	Broome	Thunderstorm Wind	—	$20,000	—	2
6 Mar 1996	Forecast zone	Heavy Snow	—	—	—	2
19 Jan 1996	Tompkins	Flash Flood	—	$19,000,000	—	—
19 Jan 1996	Chemung	Flash Flood	—	$17,800,000	—	—
8 Nov 1996	Steuben	Flash Flood	—	$14,400,000	—	—
28 Sep 1996	Sullivan	Tornado	F1	$500,000	—	1
28 Sep 1996	Sullivan	Tornado	F1	$500,000	—	1
13 Jul 1996	Ulster	Flash Flood	—	$30,000	—	1
23 Jul 1996	Clinton	Lightning	—	$15,000	—	1
12 Jun 1996	Washington	Lightning	—	—	—	1
18 May 1996	Chenango	Lightning	—	—	—	1
12 Jun 1996	Saratoga	Lightning	—	—	—	1
25 Feb 1996	Orange	High Wind	—	—	—	1

Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.

Federal disaster declarations in 1996

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
9 Dec 1996	DR-1148	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms High Winds, Rain And Flooding	12
19 Nov 1996	DR-1146	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Heavy Rains, High Winds	4
24 Jan 1996	DR-1095	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	41
12 Jan 1996	DR-1083	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Blizzard Of 96 (Severe Snow Storm)	19

Flood insurance claims with a 1996 date of loss

4,010 NFIP claims, 2,974 of them paid, for $38,147,344.

Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (1 Oct 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 1 Oct 2026.