Río Grande Municipio, Puerto Rico

What hazards hit Río Grande Municipio most?

The most frequent records are floods and flash floods: 96 since 2001. Census land area gives no figure for Río Grande Municipio under this code, so it carries no per-area rank.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

When was the last damaging storm in Río Grande Municipio?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 10, 2026 rip current (1 death).

The 911 Call Center and media reported that a female tourist was swept away by rip currents at Playa Azul in Luquillo. She was rescued from the water by emergency personnel and transported to a local hospital, where she was declared deceased.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1331487)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Río Grande Municipio's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Rip currents and high surf in the 2020-26: 32 records against 8 in the decade before, 32 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Río Grande Municipio days with a record above.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

Records by month in Río Grande Municipio. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Río Grande Municipio

FEMA's register lists 26 declarations that include Río Grande Municipio: 16 major disasters, 10 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (13) and flood (5).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Counties that share a border with Río Grande Municipio

1. Naguabo Municipio 298
2. Río Grande Municipio 194
3. Canóvanas Municipio 190
4. Luquillo Municipio 174
5. Las Piedras Municipio 169
6. Ceiba Municipio 167
7. Loíza Municipio 43

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Floods in Puerto RicoThe state's floods and flash floods, by county, year and month
• The Puerto Rico recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Río Grande MunicipioThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Río Grande Municipio's FEMA declarations (CSV)26 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis