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Editorial

Most disaster-prone counties in New York

New York has 1,521 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 62 counties. The dominant hazard type is tropical storm. Delaware County leads with 39 declarations, followed by Ulster County and Orange County.

This ranking shows every county in New York ordered by how many times FEMA has issued a disaster declaration affecting it. Counties near coastlines, river systems, or wildfire corridors tend to appear at the top because the same geographic exposure produces recurring events across decades.

Each county links to a full disaster history page with the complete declaration timeline, hazard type breakdown, decade trends, and whatever FEMA spending data is available. For a national view, see the most disaster-prone counties in America page.

New York ranking

All counties by FEMA declaration count

#CountyDeclarationsTop hazardFirst yearLatest year
1Delaware County39Tropical Storm19652024
2Ulster County37Severe Storm19652021
3Orange County36Hurricane19652024
4Suffolk County36Hurricane19652024
5Sullivan County35Severe Storm19652021
6Westchester County32Hurricane19652024
7Chenango County31Tropical Storm19722024
8Nassau County31Hurricane19652024
9Broome County30Tropical Storm19702024
10Rockland County30Hurricane19652023
11Greene County29Severe Storm19872021
12Putnam County29Hurricane19652023
13Rensselaer County29Severe Storm19732021
14Schoharie County29Severe Storm19872021
15Lewis County28Snowstorm19772024
16Oneida County28Severe Storm19722022
17Columbia County27Severe Storm19732021
18Dutchess County27Hurricane19652023
19Erie County27Snowstorm19762023
20Niagara County27Snowstorm19732023
21Otsego County27Severe Storm19932021
22Tioga County27Severe Storm19722021
23Cattaraugus County26Snowstorm19672022
24Montgomery County26Severe Storm19872021
25Allegany County25Tropical Storm19672024
26Essex County25Tropical Storm19932024
27Genesee County25Snowstorm19732023
28Herkimer County25Severe Storm19742020
29Queens County25Hurricane19652021
30Richmond County25Hurricane19652021
31Schenectady County25Severe Storm19872021
32Chautauqua County24Snowstorm19722022
33Kings County24Hurricane19652024
34Madison County24Severe Storm19722020
35Orleans County24Snowstorm19732020
36Steuben County24Tropical Storm19722024
37Wyoming County24Snowstorm19722022
38Albany County23Severe Storm19872021
39New York County23Hurricane19652021
40Jefferson County21Snowstorm19732024
41Monroe County21Snowstorm19722020
42Oswego County21Flood19722024
43Yates County21Flood19722024
44Bronx County20Hurricane19712021
45Franklin County20Tropical Storm19932024
46Livingston County20Severe Storm19722020
47Ontario County20Tropical Storm19722024
48Saratoga County20Severe Storm19872021
49Tompkins County20Severe Storm19702020
50Cayuga County19Flood19722021
51Chemung County19Flood19722020
52Clinton County19Severe Storm19932023
53Cortland County19Severe Storm19752024
54Onondaga County19Flood19722021
55St. Lawrence County19Snowstorm19912024
56Warren County19Flood19762020
57Fulton County18Severe Storm19932020
58Hamilton County18Severe Storm19932024
59Wayne County17Snowstorm19722020
60Washington County16Hurricane19762020
61Schuyler County15Flood19702020
62Seneca County12Biological19722020