Putnam County, New York: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Putnam County, New York has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 39.8 out of 100, higher than about 39% of US counties, with landslides, hurricanes and ice storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $20 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 27 federal disaster declarations that included Putnam County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4723-NY (Severe Storms and Flooding, declared 22 July 2023). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Putnam County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for New York All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 97,640 Buildings worth $23 billion Area 249 sq mi Risk rank in New York 58 of 62 FIPS 36079
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 77.4 | $19,764 | about once every 2.2 years | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 73.2 | $1.3 million | about once every 8.3 years | 24 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 68.3 | $328,226 | about 2 a year | 132 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 65.1 | $999,238 | about once every 758 years | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 58.4 | $1.1 million | about 4.4 a year | 169 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 57.4 | $14 million | about once every 1.2 years | 24 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 54.0 | $119,856 | about 15 a year | 276 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 47.6 | $544,086 | about 5.6 a year | 90 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 43.8 | $305,897 | about 29 a year | 57,981 strikes |
| Coastal flooding | Very Low | 40.6 | $28,214 | about 3.7 a year | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 39.1 | $1.0 million | about 1.3 a year | 24 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 33.6 | $225 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 29.8 | $825,039 | about once every 13 years | 5 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 19.7 | $11,990 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Drought | Very Low | 19.1 | $5,341 | about 1.1 a year | 105 |
| Hail | Very Low | 4.7 | $17,904 | about 2.7 a year | 104 |
| 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: Hurricane 11, Severe Storm 5, Snowstorm 4, Flood 3.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Drought |
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1980s | 1 | Snowstorm |
| 1990s | 5 | Hurricane ×2, Snowstorm ×2, Flood |
| 2000s | 9 | Severe Storm ×4, Other ×2, Hurricane, Snowstorm, Fire |
| 2010s | 4 | Hurricane ×4 |
| 2020s | 5 | Hurricane ×4, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Putnam 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 Ida (2021), Hurricane Henri (2021), Tropical Storm Isaias (2020), Hurricane Sandy (2012), Hurricane Irene (2011), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Floyd (1999).
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 5
| Tornadoes touching the county | 5 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×3 |
| Peak month | May (2) |
| Deadliest | 10 Jul 1989, F2, 0.5 mi path, 0 killed, 5 injured |
| Longest path | 29 Jul 1971, F2, 4.5 mi path |
| Most recent | 15 May 2018, EF2, 1.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 5 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 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 Putnam County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Putnam County (this page) | — | Very Low | 39.8 | Landslide |
| Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT | 28 km | Relatively High | 96.3 | Inland flooding |
| Westchester County | 29 km | Relatively High | 96.2 | Strong wind |
| Dutchess County | 38 km | Relatively Moderate | 88.3 | Inland flooding |
| Rockland County | 39 km | Relatively Moderate | 88.4 | Strong wind |
| Orange County | 46 km | Relatively Moderate | 90.6 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in New York, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 10.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 90.6 |
| Community risk factor | 0.64 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $20 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 Putnam County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for New York · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- 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 Putnam County
What natural disasters is Putnam County, New York most at risk from?
Putnam County, New York has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 39.8 out of 100, higher than about 39% of US counties, with landslides, hurricanes and ice storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $20 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Putnam County had?
OpenFEMA lists 27 federal disaster declarations that included Putnam County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4723-NY (Severe Storms and Flooding, declared 22 July 2023). Another 7 New York declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Putnam County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Putnam County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 10 Jul 1989, F2, 0.5 mi path, 0 killed, 5 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.