Knox County, Maine: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Knox County, Maine has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 28.6 out of 100, higher than about 28% of US counties, with winter storms, ice storms and landslides scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $12 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 29 federal disaster declarations that included Knox County since 1970, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4764-ME (Severe Storms and Flooding, declared 20 March 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 1 tornado touching Knox County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Maine All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 40,597 Buildings worth $10 billion Area 1,156 sq mi Risk rank in Maine 15 of 16 FIPS 23013
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 90.5 | $524,757 | about 16 a year | 307 |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 89.2 | $1.1 million | about 1.3 a year | 37 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 85.7 | $41,319 | about once every 12 years | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | 82.9 | $3.8 million | about once every 9.9 years | 36 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Moderate | 69.2 | $1.3 million | about 8.4 a year | — |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 49.7 | $287,171 | about 14 a year | 21,326 strikes |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 45.9 | $278,684 | about once every 741 years | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 38.5 | $495,141 | about once every 2.0 years | 8 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 35.8 | $55,822 | about 2.2 a year | 105 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 30.0 | $135 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 28.0 | $465,626 | about 1.7 a year | 32 |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 21.4 | $3.2 million | about once every 1.4 years | 20 |
| Hail | Very Low | 20.5 | $90,887 | about once every 1.5 years | 30 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 16.8 | $7,365 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Tornado | Very Low | 12.8 | $132,810 | about once every 41 years | 0 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 11.5 | $28,421 | about once every 1.4 years | 14 |
| Tsunami | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 29
Most common: Severe Storm 12, Flood 8, Hurricane 3, Coastal Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4 | Flood ×3, Fishing Losses |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood, Fishing Losses |
| 1990s | 6 | Severe Storm ×2, Snowstorm, Flood, Coastal Storm, Hurricane |
| 2000s | 9 | Severe Storm ×5, Flood ×2, Hurricane, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 3 | Severe Storm ×3 |
| 2020s | 5 | Severe Storm ×2, Hurricane, Flood, Coastal Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Knox County
- Hurricane Lee (2023, EM-3598-ME): 16 Maine counties designated.
- Severe Ice Storms, Rains and High Winds (1998, DR-1198-ME): 16 Maine counties designated.
- Blizzards, Severe Winds & Snowfall, Coastal Storm (1993, EM-3099-ME): 16 Maine counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Lee (2023), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Bob (1991).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Maine also had 3 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 1
| Tornadoes touching the county | 1 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F1 ×1 |
| Peak month | August (1) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 8 Aug 1969, F1, 1 mi path |
| Most recent | 8 Aug 1969, F1, 1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 0 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Knox County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knox County (this page) | — | Very Low | 28.6 | Winter weather |
| Lincoln County | 30 km | Very Low | 31.8 | Winter weather |
| Waldo County | 39 km | Very Low | 40.6 | Winter weather |
| Kennebec County | 55 km | Relatively Low | 75.2 | Winter weather |
| Sagadahoc County | 58 km | Very Low | 23.3 | Ice storm |
| Androscoggin County | 82 km | Relatively Low | 59.1 | Winter weather |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Maine, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 16.3 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 99.0 |
| Community risk factor | 0.84 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $12 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Knox County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Maine · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Knox County
What natural disasters is Knox County, Maine most at risk from?
Knox County, Maine has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 28.6 out of 100, higher than about 28% of US counties, with winter storms, ice storms and landslides scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $12 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Knox County had?
OpenFEMA lists 29 federal disaster declarations that included Knox County since 1970, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4764-ME (Severe Storms and Flooding, declared 20 March 2024). Another 3 Maine declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Knox County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 1 tornado touching Knox County from 1950 to 2025.
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.