York County, Maine: Natural Disaster Risk and History
York County, Maine has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 81.5 out of 100, higher than about 81% of US counties, with ice storms, hurricanes and coastal flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $56 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 40 federal disaster declarations that included York County since 1970, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4785-ME (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 May 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 12 tornadoes touching York County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 211,925 Buildings worth $50 billion Area 1,283 sq mi Risk rank in Maine 1 of 16 FIPS 23031
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice storm | Very High | 98.3 | $3.9 million | about 2.3 a year | 129 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | 91.5 | $13 million | about once every 8.2 years | 56 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively High | 86.6 | $5.3 million | about 8.1 a year | — |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 83.8 | $3.1 million | about once every 485 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 81.3 | $26 million | about 1.1 a year | 30 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 70.2 | $620,311 | about 19 a year | 101,724 strikes |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 67.5 | $147,264 | about 19 a year | 283 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 66.3 | $5,164 | about once every 1.9 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 65.8 | $502,262 | about 3.9 a year | 161 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 56.3 | $83,818 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 52.8 | $528,109 | about 3 a year | 40 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 50.3 | $681,707 | about once every 1.9 years | 17 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 47.2 | $1.1 million | about 1.6 a year | 24 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 46.5 | $1.4 million | about once every 8.5 years | 10 |
| Hail | Very Low | 28.5 | $136,759 | about 1.6 a year | 62 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 5.0 | $3 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| 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 40
Most common: Severe Storm 18, Snowstorm 6, Flood 6, Hurricane 4.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4 | Flood ×3, Fishing Losses |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood, Fishing Losses |
| 1990s | 10 | Severe Storm ×5, Flood ×2, Snowstorm, Coastal Storm, Hurricane |
| 2000s | 12 | Severe Storm ×7, Snowstorm ×4, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 7 | Severe Storm ×4, Coastal Storm, Snowstorm, Hurricane |
| 2020s | 5 | Severe Storm ×2, Winter Storm, Hurricane, Coastal Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included York 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), Tropical Storm Irene (2011), 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 12
| Tornadoes touching the county | 12 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×1 |
| Peak month | July (5) |
| Deadliest | 13 Aug 1976, F1, 0.3 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured |
| Longest path | 21 Jul 2010, EF0, 6 mi path |
| Most recent | 28 Jul 2014, EF1, 1.7 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 2 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 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 York County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| York County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 81.5 | Ice storm |
| Strafford County, NH | 33 km | Relatively Low | 64.1 | Ice storm |
| Cumberland County | 48 km | Relatively Low | 77.0 | Winter weather |
| Belknap County, NH | 57 km | Relatively Low | 57.4 | Lightning |
| Carroll County, NH | 59 km | Relatively Low | 71.0 | Winter weather |
| Rockingham County, NH | 64 km | Relatively Moderate | 85.8 | Coastal flooding |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Maine, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 16.3 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 84.8 |
| Community risk factor | 0.85 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $56 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 York County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Maine · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Coastal flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Hurricanes and storms now
- 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 York County
What natural disasters is York County, Maine most at risk from?
York County, Maine has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 81.5 out of 100, higher than about 81% of US counties, with ice storms, hurricanes and coastal flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $56 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has York County had?
OpenFEMA lists 40 federal disaster declarations that included York County since 1970, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4785-ME (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 May 2024). Another 3 Maine declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit York County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 12 tornadoes touching York County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 13 Aug 1976, F1, 0.3 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
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.