Schenectady County, New York: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Schenectady County, New York has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 71.3 out of 100, higher than about 71% of US counties, with inland (river and flash) flooding, ice storms and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $32 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Schenectady County since 1987, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3565-NY (Hurricane Henri, declared 22 August 2021). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 6 tornadoes touching Schenectady County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 158,055 Buildings worth $28 billion Area 212 sq mi Risk rank in New York 31 of 62 FIPS 36093
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 | 82.9 | $24 million | about 2 a year | 55 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 76.6 | $345,447 | about once every 1.4 years | 47 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 75.7 | $1.2 million | about once every 24 years | 12 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 73.7 | $611,923 | about 26 a year | 92,287 strikes |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 70.7 | $2.8 million | about once every 24 years | 7 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 66.9 | $729,403 | about once every 735 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 57.1 | $558,269 | about 3.3 a year | 57 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 48.1 | $567,429 | about 1.3 a year | 50 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 48.1 | $262,899 | about 2.5 a year | 96 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 47.5 | $63,804 | about 17 a year | 327 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 46.8 | $911,912 | about 2.6 a year | 48 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 34.0 | $455 | about once every 11 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 21.5 | $9,206 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| 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 23
Most common: Severe Storm 8, Hurricane 5, Snowstorm 5, Other 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 1 | Snowstorm |
| 1990s | 3 | Hurricane, Flood, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 13 | Severe Storm ×6, Other ×2, Snowstorm ×2, Hurricane, Severe Ice Storm, Fire |
| 2010s | 5 | Hurricane ×2, Severe Storm ×2, Snowstorm |
| 2020s | 1 | Hurricane |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Schenectady 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 Henri (2021), Hurricane Sandy (2012), Tropical Storm Lee (2011), 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 6
| Tornadoes touching the county | 6 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×2 |
| Peak month | May (2) |
| Deadliest | 24 Jun 1960, F3, 16 mi path, 0 killed, 9 injured |
| Longest path | 24 Jun 1960, F3, 16 mi path, 0 killed, 9 injured |
| Most recent | 9 Jun 2015, EF0, 0.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 10 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 Schenectady County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schenectady County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 71.3 | Inland flooding |
| Albany County | 25 km | Relatively Moderate | 85.9 | Landslide |
| Montgomery County | 32 km | Relatively Low | 65.2 | Landslide |
| Saratoga County | 36 km | Relatively Low | 73.0 | Inland flooding |
| Schoharie County | 40 km | Very Low | 41.3 | Landslide |
| Fulton County | 44 km | Relatively Low | 48.6 | Inland flooding |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in New York, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 29.4 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 88.0 |
| Community risk factor | 0.96 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $32 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 Schenectady 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
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- 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 Schenectady County
What natural disasters is Schenectady County, New York most at risk from?
Schenectady County, New York has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 71.3 out of 100, higher than about 71% of US counties, with inland (river and flash) flooding, ice storms and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $32 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Schenectady County had?
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Schenectady County since 1987, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3565-NY (Hurricane Henri, declared 22 August 2021). Another 7 New York declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Schenectady County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 6 tornadoes touching Schenectady County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 24 Jun 1960, F3, 16 mi path, 0 killed, 9 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.