Essex County, Massachusetts: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Essex County, Massachusetts has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 95.6 out of 100, higher than about 95% of US counties, with coastal flooding, ice storms and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $199 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 38 federal disaster declarations that included Essex County since 1972, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3599-MA (Hurricane Lee, declared 15 September 2023). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 14 tornadoes touching Essex County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Massachusetts All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 808,897 Buildings worth $169 billion Area 837 sq mi Risk rank in Massachusetts 2 of 14 FIPS 25009
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal flooding | Very High | 97.8 | $19 million | about 8.1 a year | — |
| Ice storm | Very High | 97.4 | $2.6 million | about 1.5 a year | 65 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively High | 97.1 | $125 million | about 2.7 a year | 75 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 95.0 | $2.0 million | about 19 a year | 224,106 strikes |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | 94.9 | $15 million | about once every 476 years | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | 93.3 | $15 million | about once every 6.1 years | 60 |
| Tornado | Relatively High | 92.4 | $9.3 million | about once every 8.3 years | 4 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 91.8 | $3.7 million | about 5.1 a year | 52 |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 89.9 | $1.8 million | about 8.5 a year | 259 |
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 88.7 | $2.0 million | about once every 1.3 years | 19 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 79.6 | $3.8 million | about 1.4 a year | 17 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 62.6 | $3,385 | about once every 4.0 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 59.2 | $83,117 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 46.0 | $58,993 | about 15 a year | 180 |
| Hail | Very Low | 14.9 | $52,817 | about 1.8 a year | 72 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| 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 38
Most common: Severe Storm 10, Snowstorm 8, Hurricane 7, Flood 7.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Flood ×2, Fishing Losses |
| 1980s | 3 | Flood, Hurricane, Fire |
| 1990s | 8 | Flood ×3, Snowstorm ×2, Coastal Storm ×2, Hurricane |
| 2000s | 12 | Severe Storm ×5, Snowstorm ×4, Severe Ice Storm, Hurricane, Flood |
| 2010s | 11 | Severe Storm ×5, Hurricane ×3, Snowstorm ×2, Other |
| 2020s | 1 | Hurricane |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Essex County
- Hurricane Lee (2023, EM-3599-MA): 14 Massachusetts counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding (2013, DR-4110-MA): 14 Massachusetts counties designated.
- Hurricane Sandy (2012, EM-3350-MA): 14 Massachusetts counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Lee (2023), Hurricane Sandy (2012), Hurricane Irene (2011), Hurricane Earl (2010), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Bob (1991), Hurricane Gloria (1985).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Massachusetts also had 6 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 14
| Tornadoes touching the county | 14 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | July (5) |
| Deadliest | 21 Jul 1962, F1, 2.7 mi path, 0 killed, 3 injured |
| Longest path | 1 Jul 1971, F1, 25.2 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Most recent | 15 Aug 1991, F1, 0.8 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 6 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 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 Essex County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex County (this page) | — | Relatively High | 95.6 | Coastal flooding |
| Rockingham County, NH | 38 km | Relatively Moderate | 85.8 | Coastal flooding |
| Suffolk County | 39 km | Relatively Moderate | 93.5 | Lightning |
| Middlesex County | 41 km | Relatively High | 96.9 | Ice storm |
| Norfolk County | 61 km | Relatively Moderate | 92.0 | Inland flooding |
| Hillsborough County, NH | 68 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.8 | Ice storm |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Massachusetts, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 34.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 95.6 |
| Community risk factor | 0.99 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $199 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 Essex County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Massachusetts · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Coastal flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Hurricanes and storms now
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Inland flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Floods 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 Essex County
What natural disasters is Essex County, Massachusetts most at risk from?
Essex County, Massachusetts has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 95.6 out of 100, higher than about 95% of US counties, with coastal flooding, ice storms and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $199 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Essex County had?
OpenFEMA lists 38 federal disaster declarations that included Essex County since 1972, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3599-MA (Hurricane Lee, declared 15 September 2023). Another 6 Massachusetts declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Essex County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 14 tornadoes touching Essex County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 21 Jul 1962, F1, 2.7 mi path, 0 killed, 3 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.