Natural disaster risk in Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Connecticut

Connecticut · population 174,152 · FIPS 09130

Overall: relatively moderate risk

Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region has a composite risk score of 83.8 out of 100 — higher than 83% of US counties. It ranks 7 of 9 in Connecticut (1 = highest risk). Its highest-rated hazards are inland (riverine) flooding, hurricane, coastal flooding.

Drought now: No: no drought or dryness

No. On the U.S. Drought Monitor map valid 13 October 2026, no part of Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region is in drought or abnormally dry (none of D0 to D4). That has been so for 10 weeks in a row.

Drought in Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region: the last 52 weeks · droughtmonitor.unl.edu

The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC.

Risk, loss, vulnerability and resilience

Measure	Rating and score
Overall risk Expected annual loss, adjusted for social vulnerability and community resilience.	Relatively moderate 83.8
Expected annual loss About $62.8 million a year, on average, across all 18 hazards.	Relatively moderate 86.7
Social vulnerability Higher means people may find it harder to prepare and recover.	Very low 17.9
Community resilience Higher means a stronger ability to prepare, adapt and recover.	Very high 90.4

Risk by hazard

FEMA's risk rating for each of 18 natural hazards in Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, highest first. "Not applicable" means the hazard is not modelled here.

Hazard	Risk rating and score
Inland (riverine) flooding	Relatively moderate 90
Hurricane	Relatively moderate 87
Coastal flooding	Relatively moderate 79
Ice storm	Relatively moderate 72
Winter weather	Relatively moderate 65
Lightning	Relatively moderate 59
Strong wind	Relatively moderate 53
Earthquake	Relatively low 74
Landslide	Relatively low 72
Tornado	Relatively low 43
Heat wave	Relatively low 42
Drought	Relatively low 35
Cold wave	Relatively low 30
Wildfire	Very low 43
Hail	Very low 11
Avalanche	Not applicable
Tsunami	Insufficient data
Volcanic activity	Not applicable

FEMA disaster declarations for Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region

Federal declarations that designated Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, since 1 Jan 2024 (the period this site keeps from OpenFEMA). Older declarations are in FEMA's own dataset.

This page cannot match Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region to FEMA's records: FEMA designates Connecticut's former counties, while the Risk Index uses its planning regions. Every Connecticut declaration is on this site's FEMA declarations page for the state.

All FEMA declarations in Connecticut, with estimated apply-by dates · Open FEMA deadlines

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). Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2.

How to read these ratings

Ratings run in five steps: very low, relatively low, relatively moderate, relatively high and very high. They compare a county with every other US county; they are not a measure of danger on their own.
Scores run from 0 to 100 and are national percentiles. The bar shows the score: a score of 80 means a higher value than 80% of US counties.
Overall risk combines the expected annual loss with social vulnerability and community resilience.
Expected annual loss is the average yearly loss to buildings, people and agriculture the model expects from all 18 hazards.
Social vulnerability describes how hard it may be for people to prepare for and recover from a disaster. Higher is worse.
Community resilience describes a community's ability to prepare, adapt and recover. Higher is better.
"Not applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard there (for example, hurricanes far inland).

About this data

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, version 1.20, released December 2025, published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (US public domain). About the National Risk Index. The index is a model of relative risk built from historical hazard records, what is exposed and community factors. It is not a forecast, it does not describe any single property, and it is not insurance or financial advice. For decisions about a specific address, check FEMA's flood maps and your local emergency management office.

Questions

What is the natural disaster risk in Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Connecticut?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the overall risk in Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region as relatively moderate, with a score of 83.8 out of 100 (higher than 83% of US counties). That is a comparison with other US counties, not a forecast.

What are the biggest natural hazards in Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region?

The hazards rated highest for Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region are inland (riverine) flooding (relatively moderate), hurricane (relatively moderate), coastal flooding (relatively moderate).

What is the flood risk in Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region?

FEMA rates inland (river and rain) flooding risk in Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region as relatively moderate, and coastal flooding risk as relatively moderate. For a specific property, check the FEMA flood map and your local floodplain office.

Has Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region had a FEMA disaster declaration?

Is Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region in a drought?

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