Bristol County, Rhode Island: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Bristol County, Rhode Island has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 19.4 out of 100, higher than about 19% of US counties, with hurricanes, coastal flooding and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $9.4 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 18 federal disaster declarations that included Bristol County since 1978, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4653-RI (Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm, declared 12 May 2022). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 1 tornado touching Bristol County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Rhode Island All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 50,793 Buildings worth $12 billion Area 45 sq mi Risk rank in Rhode Island 5 of 5 FIPS 44001
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 74.2 | $1.1 million | about once every 5.1 years | 30 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Moderate | 65.8 | $1.1 million | about 3.8 a year | — |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 63.2 | $497,904 | about 21 a year | 27,852 strikes |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 51.0 | $383,929 | about once every 787 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 36.1 | $5.6 million | about once every 1.4 years | 20 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 28.5 | $161,453 | about 3.4 a year | 33 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 21.7 | $24,378 | about once every 4.2 years | 16 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 19.4 | $22,150 | about 9.9 a year | 110 |
| Drought | Very Low | 16.9 | $2,221 | about 2.9 a year | 77 |
| Strong wind | Very Low | 14.6 | $155,721 | about once every 1.4 years | 27 |
| Cold wave | Very Low | 13.2 | $163,645 | about once every 1.2 years | 9.2 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 12.9 | $141,314 | about once every 154 years | 1 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 4.0 | $7 | about once every 236 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 3.7 | $1,695 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hail | Very Low | 1.2 | $1,715 | about 1.1 a year | 66 |
| 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 18
Most common: Hurricane 8, Snowstorm 6, Severe Storm 4.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Snowstorm ×2 |
| 1980s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 1990s | 3 | Snowstorm ×2, Hurricane |
| 2000s | 2 | Hurricane, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 8 | Severe Storm ×4, Hurricane ×4 |
| 2020s | 2 | Snowstorm, Hurricane |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Bristol County
- Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm (2022, DR-4653-RI): 5 Rhode Island counties designated.
- Hurricane Henri (2021, EM-3563-RI): 5 Rhode Island counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm (2015, DR-4212-RI): 5 Rhode Island counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Henri (2021), Hurricane Sandy (2012), Tropical Storm Irene (2011), Hurricane Irene (2011), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Bob (1991), Hurricane Gloria (1985).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Rhode Island also had 2 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 1
| Tornadoes touching the county | 1 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F0 ×1 |
| Peak month | September (1) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 14 Sep 1972, F0, 2 mi path |
| Most recent | 14 Sep 1972, F0, 2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 0 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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 Bristol County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol County (this page) | — | Very Low | 19.4 | Hurricane |
| Bristol County, MA | 17 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.9 | Inland flooding |
| Newport County | 18 km | Very Low | 36.4 | Hurricane |
| Kent County | 26 km | Relatively Low | 69.4 | Hurricane |
| Providence County | 30 km | Relatively Moderate | 93.7 | Heat wave |
| Washington County | 39 km | Relatively Low | 64.0 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Rhode Island, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 12.8 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 96.4 |
| Community risk factor | 0.80 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $9.4 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 Bristol County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Rhode Island · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Coastal flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Hurricanes and storms now
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Rhode Island
- 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 Bristol County
What natural disasters is Bristol County, Rhode Island most at risk from?
Bristol County, Rhode Island has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 19.4 out of 100, higher than about 19% of US counties, with hurricanes, coastal flooding and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $9.4 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Bristol County had?
OpenFEMA lists 18 federal disaster declarations that included Bristol County since 1978, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4653-RI (Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm, declared 12 May 2022). Another 2 Rhode Island declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Bristol County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 1 tornado touching Bristol 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.