Niagara County, New York: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Niagara County, New York has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 83.4 out of 100, higher than about 83% of US counties, with inland (river and flash) flooding, ice storms and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $52 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 25 federal disaster declarations that included Niagara County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4694-NY (Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm, declared 15 March 2023). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 4 tornadoes touching Niagara County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for New York All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 212,642 Buildings worth $45 billion Area 1,151 sq mi Risk rank in New York 20 of 62 FIPS 36063
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 91.0 | $45 million | about 1.3 a year | 37 |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 87.4 | $759,852 | about 3 a year | 95 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 76.9 | $664,011 | about 28 a year | 125,579 strikes |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 73.5 | $1.1 million | about once a year | 18 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 69.7 | $2.2 million | about 3.1 a year | 59 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 65.9 | $658,137 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 58.6 | $568,184 | about 2.9 a year | 53 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 57.2 | $156,617 | about once every 35 years | 10 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 56.1 | $82,795 | about 19 a year | 359 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 52.4 | $1.4 million | about once every 14 years | 2 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 42.3 | $201,582 | about once every 2.0 years | 20 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 33.8 | $18,809 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Coastal flooding | Very Low | 31.2 | $5,774 | about once every 76 years | — |
| Drought | Very Low | 17.7 | $2,344 | about once every 5.7 years | 21 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 11.5 | $36 | about once every 15 years | — |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 6.3 | $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 25
Most common: Snowstorm 9, Severe Storm 5, Flood 4, Hurricane 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Snowstorm ×2, Flood |
| 1980s | 2 | Snowstorm, Toxic Substances |
| 1990s | 3 | Snowstorm ×3 |
| 2000s | 11 | Severe Storm ×5, Snowstorm ×2, Other ×2, Hurricane, Fire |
| 2010s | 4 | Flood ×3, Hurricane |
| 2020s | 2 | Snowstorm, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Niagara County
- Hurricane Sandy (2012, EM-3351-NY): 62 New York counties designated.
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3262-NY): 62 New York counties designated.
- Severe Storms and Flooding (2004, DR-1534-NY): 62 New York counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Sandy (2012), Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. New York also had 7 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 4
| Tornadoes touching the county | 4 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F1 ×2 |
| Peak month | August (2) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 26 Jul 1969, F1, 2 mi path |
| Most recent | 28 Aug 1994, F0, 0.6 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 0 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 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 Niagara County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 83.4 | Inland flooding |
| Orleans County | 42 km | Very Low | 17.9 | Ice storm |
| Erie County | 49 km | Relatively High | 97.7 | Cold wave |
| Genesee County | 50 km | Relatively Low | 56.1 | Lightning |
| Wyoming County | 70 km | Very Low | 41.3 | Inland flooding |
| Monroe County | 85 km | Relatively Moderate | 93.8 | Cold wave |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in New York, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 35.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 91.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.00 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $52 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 Niagara County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for New York · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Inland flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Floods recorded
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Lightning: Weather alerts for New York
- 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 Niagara County
What natural disasters is Niagara County, New York most at risk from?
Niagara County, New York has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 83.4 out of 100, higher than about 83% of US counties, with inland (river and flash) flooding, ice storms and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $52 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Niagara County had?
OpenFEMA lists 25 federal disaster declarations that included Niagara County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4694-NY (Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm, declared 15 March 2023). Another 7 New York declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Niagara County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 4 tornadoes touching Niagara 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.