Editorial

Most disaster-prone counties in Rhode Island

Rhode Island has 115 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 5 counties. The dominant hazard type is hurricane. Providence County leads with 25 declarations, followed by Washington County and Kent County.

This ranking shows every county in Rhode Island 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.

Rhode Island ranking

All counties by FEMA declaration count

#CountyDeclarationsTop hazardFirst yearLatest year
1Providence County25Hurricane19782024
2Washington County25Hurricane19782024
3Kent County23Hurricane19782024
4Newport County22Hurricane19782024
5Bristol County20Hurricane19782022