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Rhode Island

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

Rhode Island has 2,484 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 5 counties, led by damaging wind: 240.3 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 11 deaths and 64 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $135M. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Bristol, Newport and Washington.

FEMA lists 31 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Severe Storms And Flooding (20 Mar 2024). NFIP policyholders filed 7,026 flood claims since 1978, $139M paid; 8,360 residential policies are in force.

40events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

2,484events since 1950240.3 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

31disaster declarations since 1953last 20 Mar 2024

7,026NFIP flood claims$139M 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	Rhode Island	US
Recorded events since 1950	2,484	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	240.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	22.7	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	11	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$135M	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	6.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$28K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	8,360	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Wind1,076

Winter605

Flood340

Hail140

Other134

Lightning59

Heat35

Drought34

Tropical29

Tornado20

Cold11

Fog1

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Wind	1,076	0.2%	2
■ Winter	605	0.2%	3
■ Flood	340	0.2%	1
■ Hail	140	0.0%	—
■ Other	134	0.3%	—
■ Lightning	59	0.3%	2
■ Heat	35	0.1%	3
■ Drought	34	0.0%	—
■ Tropical	29	0.3%	—
■ Tornado	20	0.0%	—
■ Cold	11	0.0%	—
■ Fog	1	0.0%	—

Events by decade

Hail: 1Wind: 5

Hail: 3Wind: 4

Hail: 2Tornado: 1Wind: 11

Tornado: 5Wind: 15

Hail: 28Tornado: 2Flood: 37Wind: 309Winter: 95Heat: 17Cold: 1Lightning: 6Other: 102

Hail: 53Tornado: 2Flood: 100Wind: 197Winter: 170Tropical: 1Heat: 5Cold: 2Lightning: 27Fog: 1Other: 23

Hail: 37Tornado: 3Flood: 107Wind: 333Winter: 272Tropical: 12Heat: 12Cold: 8Drought: 34Lightning: 17

Hail: 16Tornado: 7Flood: 96Wind: 202Winter: 68Tropical: 16Heat: 1Lightning: 9Other: 9

61950s71960s141970s201980s5971990s5812000s8352010s4242020s

Recorded events in Rhode Island by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtLightningFogOther 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
Bristol County	241	6	998.7	47.4	Wind	2	6	20	830	Very Low
Newport County	284	5	277.3	33.3	Wind	1	13	22	805	Very Low
Washington County	369	3	112.1	28.3	Wind	3	27	25	2,399	Relatively Low
Providence County	451	10	110.1	6.9	Wind	12	63	25	1,626	Relatively Moderate
Kent County	184	2	109.2	10.8	Wind	2	31	23	1,300	Relatively Low

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
Providence County	160	834	19.2	1,626	$49M
Kent County	112	1,165	9.6	1,300	$21M
Newport County	99	1,549	6.4	805	$12M
Bristol County	74	1,458	5.1	830	$4.9M
Washington County	91	3,354	2.7	2,399	$52M

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

Incident type	Declarations
Hurricane	10
Severe Storm	8
Snowstorm	7
Biological	3
Fire	1
Other	1
Toxic Substances	1

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

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
20 Mar 2024	DR-4766	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	4
20 Mar 2024	DR-4765	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storm And Flooding	3
7 Jan 2024	DR-4753	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes	1
14 Apr 2023	FM-5464	Fire management assistance	Fire	Queens River Fire	1
12 May 2022	DR-4653	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	5
21 Aug 2021	EM-3563	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Henri	5
30 Mar 2020	DR-4505	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	5
13 Mar 2020	EM-3515	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	0
13 Mar 2020	EM-3440	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	5
3 Apr 2015	DR-4212	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	5
22 Mar 2013	DR-4107	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	5
3 Nov 2012	DR-4089	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	4
29 Oct 2012	EM-3355	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sandy	5
3 Sep 2011	DR-4027	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Irene	5
27 Aug 2011	EM-3334	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irene	5

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

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

7,026 claims, 5,065 paid, $139M in total; 474 repetitive-loss and 66 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Rhode Island with flood claims (57).

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 1954

Questions and answers

Which Rhode Island counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Providence (12), Washington (3) and Bristol (2), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which Rhode Island counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Washington (2,399), Providence (1,626) and Kent (1,300) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has Rhode Island had?

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

How does Rhode Island compare with the national rate?

240.3 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 6.4 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.