Bennington County, Vermont: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Bennington County, Vermont has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 52.3 out of 100, higher than about 52% of US counties, with cold waves, landslides and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $19 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 19 federal disaster declarations that included Bennington County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3609-VT (Tropical Depression Debby, declared 8 August 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Bennington County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Vermont All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 37,345 Buildings worth $11 billion Area 684 sq mi Risk rank in Vermont 4 of 14 FIPS 50003
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 83.4 | $5.0 million | about 4.1 a year | 78 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 80.0 | $17,093 | about 1.3 a year | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 71.9 | $780,683 | about once every 16 years | 24 |
| Avalanche | Relatively Low | 67.4 | $3,774 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 64.5 | $12 million | about 1.6 a year | 45 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 52.7 | $282,805 | about 24 a year | 35,730 strikes |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 50.4 | $94,831 | about once every 1.7 years | 41 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 45.5 | $232,584 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 44.6 | $58,967 | about 24 a year | 464 |
| Hail | Very Low | 28.3 | $120,343 | about 2.6 a year | 99 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 27.0 | $123,744 | about 1.5 a year | 27 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 20.9 | $282,062 | about once every 8.1 years | 5 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 20.1 | $8,345 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 18.4 | $175,434 | about 1.4 a year | 52 |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| 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 19
Most common: Flood 7, Severe Storm 6, Hurricane 3, Tropical Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1990s | 2 | Severe Storm, Flood |
| 2000s | 6 | Severe Storm ×4, Severe Ice Storm, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 4 | Hurricane ×2, Flood, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 5 | Flood ×3, Tropical Storm, Hurricane |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Bennington County
- Tropical Depression Debby (2024, EM-3609-VT): 14 Vermont counties designated.
- Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides (2023, DR-4720-VT): 14 Vermont counties designated.
- Flooding (2023, EM-3595-VT): 14 Vermont counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Tropical Depression Debby (2024), Tropical Storm Henri (2021), Tropical Storm Irene (2011), Hurricane Irene (2011), Tropical Storm Floyd (1999).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Vermont also had 2 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 5
| Tornadoes touching the county | 5 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×2 |
| Peak month | June (2) |
| Deadliest | 29 May 1969, F2, 0.5 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Longest path | 21 Jul 2003, F1, 25 mi path |
| Most recent | 21 Jul 2003, F1, 25 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 1 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 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 Bennington County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bennington County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 52.3 | Cold wave |
| Windham County | 31 km | Relatively Low | 56.9 | Landslide |
| Washington County, NY | 41 km | Relatively Low | 56.6 | Landslide |
| Rensselaer County, NY | 50 km | Relatively Moderate | 82.2 | Hail |
| Rutland County | 61 km | Relatively Low | 50.5 | Landslide |
| Saratoga County, NY | 63 km | Relatively Low | 73.0 | Inland flooding |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Vermont, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 27.4 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 72.4 |
| Community risk factor | 0.95 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $19 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 Bennington County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Vermont · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- 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 Bennington County
What natural disasters is Bennington County, Vermont most at risk from?
Bennington County, Vermont has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 52.3 out of 100, higher than about 52% of US counties, with cold waves, landslides and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $19 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Bennington County had?
OpenFEMA lists 19 federal disaster declarations that included Bennington County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3609-VT (Tropical Depression Debby, declared 8 August 2024). Another 2 Vermont declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Bennington County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Bennington County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 29 May 1969, F2, 0.5 mi path, 0 killed, 1 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.