Middlesex County, Massachusetts: hazard history
What federal records show has already happened here: disaster declarations, storms, and flood insurance claims. This is a record of the past. It is not a forecast and not a hazard score.
At a glance
What this means
- The event NOAA recorded most often here is Thunderstorm Wind, with 567 records.
- The costliest single record is Flood in 2010: $26.4M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Winter Weather in 1998, with 2 deaths.
- FEMA has declared 35 disasters that named this county, most often for severe storm.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 2010, with 658 claims.
What this can't tell you
- What happens next. Past events do not set the odds of the next one.
- Anything before 1996 from NOAA. That is when NOAA began recording every event type; earlier files hold only tornado, hail and wind, so they are left out on purpose.
- Today's cost. Damage and payments are in the dollars of the year they happened.
- A flood rate. NFIP counts claims but not how many homes were insured, and many flooded homes carry no flood insurance.
- Earthquakes, wildfire perimeters or radar-detected hail. Those records are not tied to counties.
Federal disaster declarations (FEMA)
FEMA declared 35 disasters that named Middlesex County between 1985 and 2023.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Storm | 9 | 2015 |
| Snowstorm | 8 | 2018 |
| Hurricane | 7 | 2023 |
| Flood | 5 | 2004 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Coastal Storm | 1 | 1992 |
| Other | 1 | 2010 |
| Severe Ice Storm | 1 | 2008 |
| Terrorist | 1 | 2013 |
Most recent declarations
- EM-3599 2023 · Hurricane · Hurricane Lee
- EM-3438 2020 · Biological · Covid-19
- DR-4496 2020 · Biological · Covid-19 Pandemic
- DR-4379 2018 · Snowstorm · Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm
- DR-4214 2015 · Severe Storm · Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding
- EM-3362 2013 · Terrorist · Explosions
- DR-4110 2013 · Severe Storm · Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding
- EM-3350 2012 · Hurricane · Hurricane Sandy
- DR-4051 2011 · Severe Storm · Severe Storm And Snowstorm
- EM-3343 2011 · Severe Storm · Severe Storm
Not counted above: 9 statewide declarations, which covered every county in Massachusetts. A declaration is a decision to send federal help, not a measure of how bad an event was. Records run from 1953. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
Storms recorded by NOAA, by type
| Event type | Records | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 567 | 0 | 15 | $4.6M |
| Strong Wind | 229 | 1 | 7 | $854K |
| Heavy Snow | 200 | 0 | 0 | $4.5M |
| Flood | 183 | 0 | 0 | $42.1M |
| Hail | 160 | 0 | 0 | $75K |
| High Wind | 129 | 1 | 4 | $3.3M |
| Winter Storm | 79 | 0 | 0 | $1.3M |
| Flash Flood | 75 | 0 | 0 | $15.8M |
| Winter Weather | 64 | 2 | 5 | $542K |
| Lightning | 63 | 1 | 31 | $2.9M |
| Drought | 30 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heavy Rain | 27 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tropical Storm | 6 | 0 | 0 | $4.4M |
| Blizzard | 5 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Ice Storm | 4 | 1 | 0 | $6.2M |
| Tornado | 4 | 0 | 0 | $1.0M |
| Heat | 3 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 2 | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Records start in 1996. Damage is NOAA's estimate at the time, in nominal dollars, and is often rounded; it is not insurance claims data. A storm that crossed two NOAA zones in this county is recorded, and counted, once per zone. A storm filed against a forecast zone is counted in every county that zone covers, with the whole storm's damage; do not add these figures across counties.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in Middlesex County each year. The busiest year was 2016, with 127 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 56 | 0 | $4.3M |
| 1997 | 48 | 0 | $8K |
| 1998 | 83 | 2 | $4.1M |
| 1999 | 45 | 0 | $0 |
| 2000 | 39 | 1 | $0 |
| 2001 | 45 | 0 | $600K |
| 2002 | 25 | 0 | $785K |
| 2003 | 24 | 0 | $520K |
| 2004 | 34 | 0 | $435K |
| 2005 | 44 | 0 | $868K |
| 2006 | 48 | 1 | $6.8M |
| 2007 | 36 | 0 | $62K |
| 2008 | 110 | 1 | $6.9M |
| 2009 | 39 | 0 | $226K |
| 2010 | 59 | 0 | $47.2M |
| 2011 | 38 | 0 | $5.7M |
| 2012 | 57 | 0 | $881K |
| 2013 | 50 | 1 | $433K |
| 2014 | 80 | 0 | $1.3M |
| 2015 | 90 | 0 | $470K |
| 2016 | 127 | 0 | $2.0M |
| 2017 | 114 | 0 | $1.8M |
| 2018 | 94 | 0 | $527K |
| 2019 | 75 | 0 | $264K |
| 2020 | 118 | 0 | $552K |
| 2021 | 52 | 1 | $584K |
| 2022 | 56 | 0 | $111K |
| 2023 | 69 | 0 | $99K |
| 2024 | 30 | 0 | $24K |
| 2025 | 40 | 0 | $73K |
| 2026 | 10 | 0 | $6K |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Flood · Mar 14, 2010$26.4MNOAA name: Middlesex County · NOAA record 217617
- Flash Flood · Jul 10, 2010$11.0MNOAA name: Middlesex County · NOAA record 255662
- Flood · Mar 29, 2010$8.8MNOAA name: Middlesex County · NOAA record 220239
- Flood · May 13, 2006$5.0MNOAA name: Middlesex County · NOAA record 5513522
- Tropical Storm · Aug 28, 2011$3.2MNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · NOAA record 341419
Deadliest records
- Winter Weather · Mar 12, 19982 deathsNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · NOAA record 5642650
- Lightning · Jun 27, 20001 deathNOAA name: Middlesex County · 3 injuries · NOAA record 5150338
- High Wind · Feb 17, 20061 deathNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · $700K damage · NOAA record 5489684
- Ice Storm · Dec 11, 20081 deathNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · $3.0M damage · NOAA record 146820
- Heat · Jul 5, 20131 deathNOAA name: NWS forecast zone · NOAA record 462404
Each line is one NOAA record, linked to its page at NOAA. One large storm can appear more than once if NOAA recorded it in several zones of this county. Dollars are nominal.
Flood insurance claims (NFIP)
The National Flood Insurance Program paid $36.3M on 3,734 claims in Middlesex County from 1978 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 658 | $10.3M |
| 1979 | 362 | $1.5M |
| 2006 | 332 | $7.7M |
| 2001 | 309 | $2.2M |
| 1996 | 284 | $3.0M |
A count of claims, not a rate: NFIP publishes no count of insured homes beside it, and most flood damage is uninsured. Nominal dollars. Records run from 1978 to 2024; claims filed without a county code are not on any county page. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims.
Hazard vulnerability analysis: the probability column for a facility in Middlesex County
A hazard vulnerability analysis rates each hazard for probability, impact, preparedness and response. Probability is the one column the county’s federal record can fill — NCEI storm events from 1996 to 2026 and FEMA declarations naming the county — and this is what it says for a facility here, on the 0–3 scale of the all-hazards structure surveyors expect. The other six columns are the facility’s own judgment about its building, and Calchis leaves them blank.
| Hazard | Prob. | Basis, from the county record |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane / Tropical Storm | 3 | 6 NCEI events over 31 years (0.19/yr). 8 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 790 NCEI events over 31 years (25.48/yr). 9 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 285 NCEI events over 31 years (9.19/yr). 5 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 3 | 352 NCEI events over 31 years (11.35/yr). 9 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 3 | 358 NCEI events over 31 years (11.55/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tornado | 2 | 4 NCEI events over 31 years (0.13/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 2 | 9 NCEI events over 31 years (0.29/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Drought | 2 | 30 NCEI events over 31 years (0.97/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Wild Fire | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Earthquake | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Landslide | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tidal Wave / Tsunami | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Volcano | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Dam Inundation | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
A dash means the record does not speak to that hazard; it is not a zero. Whether a finished document satisfies the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule is the facility’s finding and its surveyor’s. Complete the HVA for a facility in Middlesex County — the technological, human and hazardous-materials rows, the six facility columns, the approval and the printed document — or read the sample analysis on that page first.
How this page was made
- Every figure is counted from public federal records held by Calchis: NOAA NCEI Storm Events, FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, and FEMA NFIP claims. Nothing is modeled or estimated.
- NOAA files some events against a county and others against an NWS forecast zone, and publishes a code for both. Records are counted as Middlesex County by that code — county records by the county's own FIPS code, zone records through the National Weather Service's published list of which counties each zone covers. No name matching is involved. Of 1,835 records, 1,035 were filed against this county and 800 against a forecast zone covering it. A zone storm is counted in every county its zone covers, and its damage figure is the whole storm's, not this county's share — NOAA does not publish that split. So these figures describe this county; they must not be added up across counties.
- Counts last rebuilt from the source records on Sep 15, 2026.
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Recorded history from federal public records. Not a hazard score, a risk score, or a forecast, and not a substitute for professional actuarial or emergency-management assessment. Decision-support intelligence — not a primary alerting or dispatch system. Verify against official sources.