Chittenden County, Vermont: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Chittenden County, Vermont has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 63.9 out of 100, higher than about 63% of US counties, with winter storms, lightning and avalanches scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $40 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 30 federal disaster declarations that included Chittenden County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4810-VT (Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared 20 August 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 6 tornadoes touching Chittenden County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 168,162 Buildings worth $40 billion Area 626 sq mi Risk rank in Vermont 1 of 14 FIPS 50007
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 84.9 | $465,054 | about 17 a year | 317 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 82.8 | $1.4 million | about 23 a year | 76,758 strikes |
| Avalanche | Relatively Moderate | 78.9 | $456,666 | about once every 30 years | 1 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 78.1 | $600,671 | about once every 3.0 years | 23 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 76.7 | $2.1 million | about once every 360 years | — |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 76.6 | $18,363 | about once every 1.2 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 76.4 | $29 million | about 2.1 a year | 60 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 73.2 | $1.8 million | about 2.1 a year | 38 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 65.9 | $661,061 | about once every 38 years | 8 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 59.4 | $1.2 million | about once every 1.3 years | 30 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 49.6 | $1.6 million | about 3.5 a year | 65 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 29.5 | $846,921 | about once every 35 years | 3 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 25.4 | $18,585 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hail | Very Low | 16.7 | $98,610 | about 1.1 a year | 42 |
| 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 30
Most common: Severe Storm 14, Flood 10, Hurricane 3, Tropical Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1990s | 7 | Flood ×4, Severe Storm ×3 |
| 2000s | 2 | Severe Storm, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 11 | Severe Storm ×6, Flood ×2, Hurricane ×2, Severe Ice Storm |
| 2020s | 8 | Severe Storm ×4, Flood ×2, Tropical Storm, Hurricane |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Chittenden 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).
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 6
| Tornadoes touching the county | 6 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×1 |
| Peak month | June (3) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 21 Jun 1953, F1, 1.5 mi path |
| Most recent | 31 May 1987, F0, 0.3 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 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 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 Chittenden County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chittenden County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 63.9 | Winter weather |
| Lamoille County | 38 km | Very Low | 18.3 | Winter weather |
| Grand Isle County | 41 km | Very Low | 1.9 | Ice storm |
| Washington County | 43 km | Relatively Low | 52.2 | Landslide |
| Franklin County | 46 km | Very Low | 29.2 | Landslide |
| Addison County | 48 km | Very Low | 26.8 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Vermont, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 10.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 94.3 |
| Community risk factor | 0.61 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $40 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 Chittenden County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Vermont · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Vermont
- Avalanche: Official warnings now
- 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 Chittenden County
What natural disasters is Chittenden County, Vermont most at risk from?
Chittenden County, Vermont has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 63.9 out of 100, higher than about 63% of US counties, with winter storms, lightning and avalanches scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $40 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Chittenden County had?
OpenFEMA lists 30 federal disaster declarations that included Chittenden County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4810-VT (Severe Storm, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared 20 August 2024). Another 2 Vermont declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Chittenden County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 6 tornadoes touching Chittenden 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.