Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge

Hazard in Coastal and Tropical Hazards

A multi-hazard, forecastable-days-ahead system — wind, storm surge and rainfall flooding arriving together over a wide area.

Plans also call it: tropical cyclone, typhoon, tropical depression, post-tropical cyclone, hurricane surge, storm tide

Talk to us about Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeAll 73 hazards →

What you’d hand your council

The first page of a Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge evidence brief: likelihood, impact and readiness on your own scale, every figure sourced.

Evidence brief for Cedar Ridge County (example)

September 14, 2026

Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge

Hazard in Coastal and Tropical Hazards, on the established threats & hazards list

Impact
5432112345

Likelihood

Likelihood
2

Unlikely — Possible but infrequent — roughly once in 50 to 100 years (1–2% chance in any year).

Impact
2

Minor — Limited effects — few injuries, damage confined to a small area, brief localized disruption of services.

Readiness
4

High — The organization has a well-developed capability to manage this threat or hazard. Plans, personnel, resources, and skills are largely in place, and the capability has been meaningfully tested or demonstrated. Remaining gaps are unlikely to significantly impair performance.

  • 2source documents
  • 58verified mentions
  • 2federal declarations
  • 91.6NRI score, relatively high
Worked example: Cedar Ridge County is fictional. The scores illustrate the format and are nobody's decision. Open a full sample brief →

The national record

FEMA National Risk Index: Hurricane

$14.2B
expected loss a year, nationally
165
counties rated high or very high

Your county’s own rating is the first thing we pull.

How it maps

The same hazard in the vocabularies your plan and FEMA already use.

FEMA National Risk Index
Hurricane (HRCN)one of the 18 hazards NRI scores per county
FEMA declaration incident type
Hurricane, Typhoon, Tropical Storm, Tropical Depression, Coastal Storm589 declarations on record
NOAA Storm Events type
Hurricane, Hurricane (Typhoon), Tropical Storm, Tropical Depression, Storm Surge/Tide
Hazzard category
Coastal and Tropical Hazards, natural hazards

How it connects

Can lead to

The national record

What the federal data says about Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge

The same national sources a Hazzard brief starts from. For your jurisdiction we narrow each one to your county and its neighbors.

Where Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge is rated high

Share of each state's counties FEMA rates Relatively High or Very High

Alabama: 5 of 67 counties rated high (7%) · $466M expected loss a yearAlaska: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeArizona: 0 of 11 counties rated high (0%) · $51K expected loss a yearArkansas: 0 of 75 counties rated high (0%) · $6M expected loss a yearCalifornia: 0 of 3 counties rated high (0%) · $9K expected loss a yearColorado: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeConnecticut: 6 of 9 counties rated high (67%) · $184M expected loss a yearDelaware: 1 of 3 counties rated high (33%) · $52M expected loss a yearDistrict of Columbia: 1 of 1 counties rated high (100%) · $29M expected loss a yearFlorida: 44 of 67 counties rated high (66%) · $4.3B expected loss a yearGeorgia: 6 of 159 counties rated high (4%) · $524M expected loss a yearHawaii: 0 of 5 counties rated high (0%) · $2M expected loss a yearIdaho: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeIllinois: 0 of 102 counties rated high (0%) · $1M expected loss a yearIndiana: 0 of 92 counties rated high (0%) · $1M expected loss a yearIowa: 0 of 70 counties rated high (0%) · $237K expected loss a yearKansas: 0 of 19 counties rated high (0%) · $188K expected loss a yearKentucky: 0 of 120 counties rated high (0%) · $2M expected loss a yearLouisiana: 24 of 64 counties rated high (38%) · $1.5B expected loss a yearMaine: 0 of 16 counties rated high (0%) · $79M expected loss a yearMaryland: 0 of 24 counties rated high (0%) · $128M expected loss a yearMassachusetts: 6 of 14 counties rated high (43%) · $193M expected loss a yearMichigan: 0 of 70 counties rated high (0%) · $2M expected loss a yearMinnesota: 0 of 1 counties rated high (0%) · $1K expected loss a yearMississippi: 4 of 82 counties rated high (5%) · $296M expected loss a yearMissouri: 0 of 99 counties rated high (0%) · $1M expected loss a yearMontana: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeNebraska: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeNevada: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeNew Hampshire: 0 of 10 counties rated high (0%) · $41M expected loss a yearNew Jersey: 3 of 21 counties rated high (14%) · $185M expected loss a yearNew Mexico: 0 of 11 counties rated high (0%) · $96K expected loss a yearNew York: 7 of 62 counties rated high (11%) · $242M expected loss a yearNorth Carolina: 23 of 100 counties rated high (23%) · $1.3B expected loss a yearNorth Dakota: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeOhio: 0 of 88 counties rated high (0%) · $5M expected loss a yearOklahoma: 0 of 75 counties rated high (0%) · $1M expected loss a yearOregon: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgePennsylvania: 2 of 67 counties rated high (3%) · $170M expected loss a yearRhode Island: 0 of 5 counties rated high (0%) · $20M expected loss a yearSouth Carolina: 15 of 46 counties rated high (33%) · $1.2B expected loss a yearSouth Dakota: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeTennessee: 0 of 95 counties rated high (0%) · $6M expected loss a yearTexas: 17 of 241 counties rated high (7%) · $1.3B expected loss a yearUtah: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeVermont: 0 of 14 counties rated high (0%) · $8M expected loss a yearVirginia: 1 of 133 counties rated high (1%) · $212M expected loss a yearWashington: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm SurgeWest Virginia: 0 of 55 counties rated high (0%) · $9M expected loss a yearWisconsin: 0 of 34 counties rated high (0%) · $146K expected loss a yearWyoming: not rated for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge
  • None
  • Up to 10%
  • 10–25%
  • 25–50%
  • Over 50%
  • Not rated
FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0, county table

589 federal declarations since 1954

Declarations FEMA filed as “Hurricane”, “Typhoon”, “Tropical Storm”, “Tropical Depression”, “Coastal Storm”, by year (2026 to date)

040801954: 7 declarations1955: 7 declarations1956: 2 declarations1957: 2 declarations1958: 1 declaration1959: 1 declaration1960: 2 declarations1961: 1 declaration1962: 1 declaration1963: 3 declarations1964: 5 declarations1965: 3 declarations1966: 1 declaration1967: 1 declaration1968: 1 declaration1969: 5 declarations1970: 1 declaration1971: 2 declarations1972: 2 declarations1974: 2 declarations1976: 3 declarations1979: 5 declarations1980: 3 declarations1981: 1 declaration1982: 1 declaration1983: 2 declarations1984: 2 declarations1985: 11 declarations1986: 2 declarations1987: 4 declarations1988: 4 declarations1989: 4 declarations1990: 5 declarations1991: 14 declarations1992: 7 declarations1993: 2 declarations1994: 1 declaration1995: 7 declarations1996: 6 declarations1997: 4 declarations1998: 16 declarations1999: 28 declarations2001: 3 declarations2002: 11 declarations2003: 10 declarations2004: 19 declarations2005: 65 declarations2007: 1 declaration2008: 16 declarations2009: 1 declaration2010: 5 declarations2011: 31 declarations2012: 29 declarations2013: 2 declarations2015: 3 declarations2016: 10 declarations2017: 26 declarations2018: 26 declarations2019: 15 declarations2020: 34 declarations2021: 24 declarations2022: 12 declarations2023: 15 declarations2024: 37 declarations2025: 1 declaration2026 (to date): 11 declarations2005: 651960197019801990200020102020
OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, as of 2026-09-27. Counts distinct disasters; major, emergency and fire-management declarations.

In your plan

What a Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge profile needs, and where each part comes from

A local hazard mitigation plan profiles each hazard the same way (44 CFR 201.6). Here is how Hazzard fills each part for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge.

  1. Location

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    FEMA's National Risk Index rates Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge for every county. We place yours against its neighbors and the state, then add what your plans map in more detail.

  2. Extent

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    Your documents

    The magnitude your plans use for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge (a scale, a depth, an acreage, a duration), read from your documents and cited, so the profile states the strength you plan for.

  3. Previous occurrences

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    Every FEMA declaration filed as Hurricane, Typhoon, Tropical Storm, Tropical Depression or Coastal Storm that included your county, back to 1953, alongside the events your own records and after-action reports describe.

  4. Probability of future events

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    NRI's annualized frequency for your county, and the declaration history, drafted into a likelihood on your own scale for your team to accept or change.

  5. Vulnerability and impacts

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(ii)

    National data

    NRI's expected annual loss and social vulnerability for your county, the Census population profile and HHS emPOWER counts, with the impacts your plans already describe.

  6. The assessment itself

    Your team decides

    Likelihood, impact and readiness for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge are drafted with every source attached, and a person on your team accepts each one. Hazzard never records a score on its own.

How we can help

How we’d help you prepare for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge

  1. 1

    We pull your coastal record

    Hurricane and coastal declarations, NRI's hurricane, coastal flooding and tsunami ratings, and the mitigation FEMA has already funded.

  2. 2

    We read the plans you already have

    Mitigation plan, evacuation and coastal material, so what they say about Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge is cited rather than assumed.

  3. 3

    You leave with a cited brief

    Likelihood, impact and readiness for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge on your own scale, every figure tied to its source, ready for the planning team or the council.

Also in Coastal and Tropical Hazards

Preparing for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge

Plan for Hurricane / Tropical Storm / Storm Surge with the record of your own coastline.

Coastal hazards arrive together: wind, surge and erosion in one event. We keep their evidence apart so each gets its own score and its own actions. A person replies within one business day.

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