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Vermont
The recorded hazard history of every county in Vermont: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.
Vermont has 11,007 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 14 counties, led by winter storms and snow: 119.4 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.
NCEI attributes 62 deaths and 87 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $1.7B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Grand Isle, Lamoille and Bennington.
FEMA lists 62 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides (26 Sep 2024). NFIP policyholders filed 3,725 flood claims since 1978, $118M paid; 2,848 residential policies are in force.
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 | Vermont | US |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded events since 1950 | 11,007 | 1,977,440 |
| Events per 100 square miles | 119.4 | 56.0 |
| Events per 10,000 residents | 170.5 | 59.6 |
| Deaths recorded by NCEI | 62 | 26,435 |
| Property damage (NCEI estimates) | $1.7B | $575B |
| NFIP claims per 1,000 residents | 5.8 | 8.1 |
| Average paid NFIP claim | $40K | $43K |
| Residential flood policies in force | 2,848 | 3,139,862 |
Hazard mix
Events by decade
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Isle County | 381 | 15 | 466.0 | 513.4 | Winter | 0 | 18 | 18 | 59 | Very Low |
| Lamoille County | 619 | 16 | 134.2 | 236.9 | Winter | 3 | 31 | 38 | 174 | Very Low |
| Bennington County | 795 | 31 | 117.9 | 213.1 | Wind | 6 | 55 | 21 | 112 | Relatively Low |
| Chittenden County | 623 | 2 | 116.0 | 36.9 | Wind | 5 | 136 | 32 | 256 | Relatively Low |
| Caledonia County | 717 | 15 | 110.4 | 235.8 | Winter | 1 | 64 | 31 | 271 | Very Low |
| Washington County | 748 | 16 | 108.9 | 124.7 | Winter | 0 | 64 | 33 | 1,233 | Relatively Low |
| Orleans County | 662 | 15 | 95.3 | 240.3 | Winter | 6 | 51 | 33 | 102 | Very Low |
| Orange County | 573 | 19 | 83.4 | 194.0 | Winter | 4 | 37 | 34 | 84 | Very Low |
| Essex County | 501 | 14 | 75.6 | 845.6 | Winter | 3 | 13 | 30 | 13 | Very Low |
| Windsor County | 645 | 4 | 66.6 | 110.8 | Winter | 5 | 64 | 27 | 511 | Relatively Low |
| Addison County | 466 | 9 | 60.8 | 125.1 | Wind | 5 | 104 | 30 | 99 | Very Low |
| Franklin County | 343 | 3 | 54.4 | 68.2 | Wind | 8 | 71 | 30 | 177 | Very Low |
| Rutland County | 500 | 9 | 53.7 | 82.5 | Wind | 2 | 90 | 22 | 284 | Relatively Low |
| Windham County | 404 | 7 | 51.4 | 87.7 | Wind | 5 | 34 | 24 | 312 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington County | 464 | 557 | 83.3 | 1,233 | $50M |
| Lamoille County | 78 | 125 | 62.4 | 174 | $5.7M |
| Caledonia County | 68 | 123 | 55.3 | 271 | $6.1M |
| Windsor County | 159 | 488 | 32.6 | 511 | $25M |
| Rutland County | 69 | 245 | 28.2 | 284 | $4.8M |
| Chittenden County | 69 | 283 | 24.4 | 256 | $4.0M |
| Orange County | 25 | 120 | 20.8 | 84 | $1.9M |
| Windham County | 47 | 269 | 17.5 | 312 | $11M |
| Addison County | 15 | 123 | 12.2 | 99 | $1.6M |
| Bennington County | 28 | 238 | 11.8 | 112 | $1.5M |
| Franklin County | 12 | 132 | 9.1 | 177 | $2.5M |
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
| Incident type | Declarations |
|---|---|
| Severe Storm | 29 |
| Flood | 22 |
| Hurricane | 3 |
| Biological | 2 |
| Severe Ice Storm | 2 |
| Drought | 2 |
| Tropical Storm | 1 |
| Snowstorm | 1 |
Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):
| Declared | Number | Type | Incident | Title | Counties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep 2024 | DR-4826 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | 3 |
| 11 Sep 2024 | DR-4816 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storms And Flooding | 1 |
| 20 Aug 2024 | DR-4810 | Major disaster | Severe Storm | Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | 8 |
| 8 Aug 2024 | EM-3609 | Emergency | Tropical Storm | Tropical Depression Debby | 14 |
| 19 Apr 2024 | DR-4770 | Major disaster | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storm | 5 |
| 2 Mar 2024 | DR-4762 | Major disaster | Severe Storm | Severe Storm And Flooding | 7 |
| 6 Oct 2023 | DR-4744 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storms And Flooding | 1 |
| 14 Jul 2023 | DR-4720 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | 14 |
| 10 Jul 2023 | EM-3595 | Emergency | Flood | Flooding | 14 |
| 20 Mar 2023 | DR-4695 | Major disaster | Severe Storm | Severe Storm And Flooding | 8 |
| 29 Sep 2021 | DR-4621 | Major disaster | Flood | Severe Storm And Flooding | 2 |
| 22 Aug 2021 | EM-3567 | Emergency | Hurricane | Tropical Storm Henri | 14 |
| 8 Apr 2020 | DR-4532 | Major disaster | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic | 14 |
| 13 Mar 2020 | EM-3437 | Emergency | Biological | Covid-19 | 14 |
| 17 Jan 2020 | DR-4474 | Major disaster | Severe Storm | Severe Storm And Flooding | 8 |
Flood insurance claims by year
3,725 claims, 2,938 paid, $118M in total; 256 repetitive-loss and 30 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Vermont with flood claims (124).
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 1953
- 1996
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- 1993
- 1992
- 1991
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- 1988
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- 1978
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- 1957
- 1956
- 1955
- 1953
Questions and answers
Which Vermont counties have the most recorded tornadoes?
Franklin (8), Bennington (6) and Orleans (6), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.
Which Vermont counties have the most flood insurance claims?
Washington (1,233), Windsor (511) and Windham (312) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.
How many federal disaster declarations has Vermont had?
62 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 0 of them in 2026 so far.
How does Vermont compare with the national rate?
119.4 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 5.8 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.