Somerset County, Maine: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Somerset County, Maine has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 67.9 out of 100, higher than about 67% of US counties, with winter storms, cold waves and ice storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $26 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 27 federal disaster declarations that included Somerset County since 1970, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4754-ME (Severe Storm and Flooding, declared 30 January 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 13 tornadoes touching Somerset County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Maine All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 50,421 Buildings worth $12 billion Area 4,135 sq mi Risk rank in Maine 6 of 16 FIPS 23025
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 | 94.9 | $648,394 | about 25 a year | 482 |
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 91.8 | $8.0 million | about 7.1 a year | 134 |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 90.2 | $935,513 | about once every 3.7 years | 18 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | 85.9 | $4.2 million | about once every 13 years | 48 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 85.9 | $952,286 | about 18 a year | 75,566 strikes |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 78.8 | $850,140 | about 3.3 a year | 119 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 76.2 | $10,248 | about 2.1 a year | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 61.8 | $9.4 million | about 4.1 a year | 116 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 60.2 | $1,429 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 59.4 | $430,640 | about once every 382 years | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 47.4 | $497,634 | about once every 2.2 years | 18 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 35.0 | $142,547 | about once every 2.5 years | 15 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 22.1 | $8,672 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 20.9 | $66,284 | about once every 2.6 years | 7.1 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 16.3 | $163,252 | about once every 11 years | 7 |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| 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 27
Most common: Severe Storm 11, Flood 7, Snowstorm 6, Hurricane 3.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 7 | Severe Storm ×3, Flood ×2, Hurricane, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 12 | Severe Storm ×5, Snowstorm ×5, Flood, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 4 | Severe Storm ×2, Hurricane, Flood |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Somerset 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 Floyd (1999).
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 13
| Tornadoes touching the county | 13 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×4 |
| Peak month | July (4) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 15 Jul 1963, F0, 17.1 mi path |
| Most recent | 15 Jul 2014, EF1, 2.8 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 0 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 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 Somerset County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 67.9 | Winter weather |
| Piscataquis County | 63 km | Relatively Low | 52.4 | Cold wave |
| Franklin County | 72 km | Relatively Low | 43.6 | Ice storm |
| Penobscot County | 103 km | Relatively Low | 78.0 | Winter weather |
| Kennebec County | 124 km | Relatively Low | 75.2 | Winter weather |
| Oxford County | 129 km | Relatively Low | 65.9 | Winter weather |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Maine, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Moderate 41.1 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 53.9 |
| Community risk factor | 1.06 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $26 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 Somerset 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
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- 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 Somerset County
What natural disasters is Somerset County, Maine most at risk from?
Somerset County, Maine has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 67.9 out of 100, higher than about 67% of US counties, with winter storms, cold waves and ice storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $26 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Somerset County had?
OpenFEMA lists 27 federal disaster declarations that included Somerset County since 1970, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4754-ME (Severe Storm and Flooding, declared 30 January 2024). Another 3 Maine declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Somerset County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 13 tornadoes touching Somerset 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.