Orleans County, Vermont: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Orleans County, Vermont has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 36.8 out of 100, higher than about 36% of US counties, with landslides, winter storms and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $12 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 31 federal disaster declarations that included Orleans County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4826-VT (Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared 26 September 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 6 tornadoes touching Orleans County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Vermont All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 27,365 Buildings worth $8.8 billion Area 729 sq mi Risk rank in Vermont 7 of 14 FIPS 50019
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 | 72.8 | $7,709 | about once every 1.2 years | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 70.8 | $136,922 | about 23 a year | 428 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 67.3 | $466,998 | about once every 34 years | 6 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 60.7 | $9.4 million | about 1.8 a year | 49 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 52.2 | $681 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 49.0 | $83,455 | about once every 3.8 years | 18 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 48.1 | $893,303 | about 4.9 a year | 93 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 47.4 | $215,816 | about 22 a year | 40,052 strikes |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 46.7 | $235,957 | about once every 826 years | — |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 25.4 | $102,066 | about once every 1.5 years | 13 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 22.7 | $215,294 | about once every 1.9 years | 20 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 18.9 | $7,113 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Tornado | Very Low | 11.1 | $80,511 | about once every 32 years | 4 |
| Hail | Very Low | 5.7 | $15,717 | about once every 1.2 years | 32 |
| 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 31
Most common: Severe Storm 16, Flood 9, Hurricane 3, Tropical Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1990s | 5 | Severe Storm ×3, Flood ×2 |
| 2000s | 4 | Severe Storm ×3, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 10 | Severe Storm ×5, Flood ×2, Hurricane ×2, Severe Ice Storm |
| 2020s | 10 | Severe Storm ×5, Flood ×3, Tropical Storm, Hurricane |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Orleans 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 6
| Tornadoes touching the county | 6 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F1 ×5 |
| Peak month | May (3) |
| Deadliest | 20 May 1962, F1, 9.4 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Longest path | 20 May 1962, F1, 9.4 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Most recent | 29 May 2012, EF0, 0.3 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 1 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 2 | 0 | 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 Orleans County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orleans County (this page) | — | Very Low | 36.8 | Landslide |
| Lamoille County | 40 km | Very Low | 18.3 | Winter weather |
| Essex County | 42 km | Very Low | 3.2 | Landslide |
| Caledonia County | 42 km | Very Low | 30.2 | Landslide |
| Franklin County | 53 km | Very Low | 29.2 | Landslide |
| Washington County | 68 km | Relatively Low | 52.2 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Vermont, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 37.7 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 79.8 |
| Community risk factor | 1.02 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $12 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 Orleans County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Vermont · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Winter weather: 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 Orleans County
What natural disasters is Orleans County, Vermont most at risk from?
Orleans County, Vermont has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 36.8 out of 100, higher than about 36% of US counties, with landslides, winter storms and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $12 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Orleans County had?
OpenFEMA lists 31 federal disaster declarations that included Orleans County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4826-VT (Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides, declared 26 September 2024). Another 2 Vermont declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Orleans County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 6 tornadoes touching Orleans County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 20 May 1962, F1, 9.4 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.