Bucks County, Pennsylvania: 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 426 records.
- The costliest single record is Flood in 2005: $40.0M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Flash Flood in 2023, with 7 deaths.
- FEMA has declared 27 disasters that named this county, most often for hurricane.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 2005, with 735 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 27 disasters that named Bucks County between 1965 and 2021.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | 8 | 2021 |
| Flood | 7 | 2011 |
| Severe Storm | 5 | 2006 |
| Snowstorm | 3 | 2016 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Drought | 1 | 1965 |
| Severe Ice Storm | 1 | 2014 |
Most recent declarations
- DR-4618 2021 · Hurricane · Remnants Of Hurricane Ida
- DR-4506 2020 · Biological · Covid-19 Pandemic
- EM-3441 2020 · Biological · Covid-19
- DR-4267 2016 · Snowstorm · Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm
- EM-3367 2014 · Severe Ice Storm · Severe Winter Storm
- EM-3356 2012 · Hurricane · Hurricane Sandy
- DR-4099 2012 · Hurricane · Hurricane Sandy
- DR-4030 2011 · Flood · Tropical Storm Lee
- EM-3340 2011 · Flood · Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee
- DR-4025 2011 · Hurricane · Hurricane Irene
Not counted above: 6 statewide declarations, which covered every county in Pennsylvania. 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 | 426 | 0 | 14 | $1.3M |
| Winter Weather | 269 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flash Flood | 122 | 12 | 15 | $96.0M |
| Strong Wind | 105 | 2 | 2 | $1.6M |
| Dense Fog | 85 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Hail | 83 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 76 | 5 | 12 | $5.1M |
| Flood | 70 | 1 | 2 | $100.2M |
| Heat | 69 | 4 | 6 | $0 |
| Lightning | 65 | 1 | 20 | $3.6M |
| Heavy Rain | 54 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Drought | 47 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 45 | 1 | 7 | $0 |
| High Wind | 40 | 1 | 4 | $9.0M |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 39 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Heavy Snow | 38 | 4 | 1 | $1.0M |
| Coastal Flood | 28 | 0 | 0 | $150K |
| Tornado | 13 | 0 | 12 | $5K |
| Astronomical Low Tide | 7 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Ice Storm | 6 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Sleet | 5 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Funnel Cloud | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tropical Storm | 4 | 0 | 0 | $700K |
| Wildfire | 4 | 0 | 0 | $105K |
| Blizzard | 3 | 4 | 0 | $1.9M |
| Frost/Freeze | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Storm Surge/Tide | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Freezing Fog | 2 | 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.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in Bucks County each year. The busiest year was 2021, with 92 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 50 | 3 | $21.1M |
| 1997 | 47 | 0 | $5K |
| 1998 | 47 | 0 | $300K |
| 1999 | 55 | 2 | $22.0M |
| 2000 | 39 | 0 | $5.2M |
| 2001 | 43 | 0 | $1.6M |
| 2002 | 64 | 2 | $10K |
| 2003 | 58 | 0 | $6.7M |
| 2004 | 51 | 0 | $25.0M |
| 2005 | 50 | 1 | $40.5M |
| 2006 | 46 | 0 | $30.3M |
| 2007 | 66 | 2 | $2.6M |
| 2008 | 53 | 1 | $1.2M |
| 2009 | 53 | 2 | $216K |
| 2010 | 45 | 1 | $6.4M |
| 2011 | 55 | 4 | $2.1M |
| 2012 | 67 | 1 | $3.8M |
| 2013 | 61 | 0 | $39K |
| 2014 | 83 | 3 | $1.4M |
| 2015 | 54 | 0 | $18K |
| 2016 | 33 | 4 | $13K |
| 2017 | 32 | 0 | $10 |
| 2018 | 32 | 0 | $0 |
| 2019 | 77 | 1 | $0 |
| 2020 | 87 | 0 | $0 |
| 2021 | 92 | 1 | $50.0M |
| 2022 | 39 | 0 | $0 |
| 2023 | 85 | 7 | $20K |
| 2024 | 52 | 0 | $100K |
| 2025 | 70 | 0 | $111K |
| 2026 | 33 | 0 | $0 |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Flood · Apr 3, 2005$40.0MNOAA name: BUCKS · NOAA record 5449416
- Flood · Jun 28, 2006$30.0MNOAA name: BUCKS · NOAA record 5518461
- Flash Flood · Sep 1, 2021$25.0MNOAA name: BUCKS · 1 death · NOAA record 981440
- Flash Flood · Sep 1, 2021$25.0MNOAA name: BUCKS · NOAA record 981441
- Flood · Sep 18, 2004$24.0MNOAA name: BUCKS · NOAA record 5426520
Deadliest records
- Flash Flood · Jul 15, 20237 deathsNOAA name: BUCKS · NOAA record 1101227
- Winter Storm · Oct 29, 20114 deathsNOAA name: BUCKS · NOAA record 351724
- Heavy Snow · Jan 2, 20143 deathsNOAA name: LOWER BUCKS · NOAA record 494841
- Flash Flood · Jun 12, 19962 deathsNOAA name: BUCKS · $14.5M damage · NOAA record 5567093
- Heat · Jul 4, 19992 deathsNOAA name: BUCKS · 6 injuries · NOAA record 5715463
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 $147.0M on 5,241 claims in Bucks County from 1978 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 735 | $30.4M |
| 2006 | 718 | $27.7M |
| 2011 | 643 | $15.3M |
| 1996 | 565 | $9.6M |
| 2004 | 472 | $20.8M |
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 Bucks 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 | 7 NCEI events over 31 years (0.23/yr). 8 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 574 NCEI events over 31 years (18.52/yr). 5 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 274 NCEI events over 31 years (8.84/yr). 7 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 3 | 399 NCEI events over 31 years (12.87/yr). 4 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 3 | 160 NCEI events over 31 years (5.16/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Drought | 3 | 47 NCEI events over 31 years (1.52/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 3 | 145 NCEI events over 31 years (4.68/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tornado | 2 | 13 NCEI events over 31 years (0.42/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Wild Fire | 2 | 4 NCEI events over 31 years (0.13/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming 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 Bucks 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 by county and others by forecast zone, and names both. Records are counted as Bucks County when their NOAA name is this county's name, alone or with a word like “Coastal” or “Inland” in front. The county codes NOAA also publishes have not been loaded for Pennsylvania yet; when they are, this page will count by code instead, and some counties' records will grow. NOAA names counted here: BUCKS, LOWER BUCKS, Lower Bucks, UPPER BUCKS, Upper Bucks. Zones named for something else, such as a mountain range or two counties at once, are left out: 0% of Pennsylvania's NOAA records.
- 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.