St. Thomas Island, U.S. Virgin Islands

Island storm and disaster record · FIPS 78030 · population 41,412

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 123 records for St. Thomas Island, U.S. Virgin Islands from 1950 through June 30, 2026, on 87 days; the most frequent are floods and flash floods (43 records). The deadliest single record is the March 29, 2014 rip current, filed for the forecast zone St. Thomas / St. John And Adjacent Islands, which covers the county: 2 deaths. FEMA has issued 28 declarations naming the county since 1970, 26 of them for natural hazards; the latest for a natural hazard was “Tropical Storm Ernesto” on October 25, 2024.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm records filed for the county each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).

recorded, no damage figure
under $100,000
$100,000 or more
$1 million or more
$10 million or more, or a death
$100 million or more, or 10 deaths
a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
a year with a death
1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
1996: all 48 event types from 1996

Storm records: 123on 87 days, 1950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded: 20 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $17Mas filed (scale steps before 1993)
FEMA declarations: 28latest 2024

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); damage converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. Search the record at NCEI. BLS consumer price index.

What hazards hit St. Thomas Island most?

The most frequent records are floods and flash floods: 43 since 1998. Census land area gives no figure for St. Thomas Island under this code, so it carries no per-area rank.

St. Thomas Island: records by hazard, 1950 to June 30, 2026
Hazard	Records	Days	First, last	Killed	Damage	Rank in state
Floods	43	26	1998-2024	0	$911K	–
Hurricanes and tropical storms	25	17	1998-2021	0	$15M	–
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	15	14	1998-2008	0	$167K	–
Drought	12	12	2022-2024	0	–	–
Heavy rain	11	9	2008-2015	0	–	–
High wind and dust storms	5	4	1998-2010	0	$41K	–
Severe thunderstorm wind	5	4	1998-2013	0	$44K	–
Rip currents and high surf	3	2	1999-2014	2	$27K	–
Extreme cold	2	1	2000-2000	0	–	–
Heat	2	2	2023-2024	0	–	–

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 St. Thomas Island?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 29, 2014 rip current (2 deaths).

Two drowned people on Hull Bay due to high surf. The second body was found dead on Sunday March 30.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 508342)

The 7 most recent records kept for St. Thomas Island
Date	Record	Killed	Damage
2014-03-29	Rip CurrentSt. John Island and St. Thomas Island · forecast zone St. Thomas / St. John And Adjacent Islands	2	–
2004-09-14	Tropical StormSt. John Island and St. Thomas Island · forecast zone St. Thomas / St. John And Adjacent Islands	0	$3.7M
2003-11-11	FloodSt. John Island and St. Thomas Island · forecast zone St. Thomas / St. John And Adjacent Islands	0	$802K
1999-11-16	Hurricane (Typhoon)St. Thomas Island · forecast zone St. Thomas	0	$1.8M
1999-11-16	Hurricane (Typhoon)St. Croix Island and 2 more · forecast zone St. John	0	$8.9M
1998-09-21	Hurricane (Typhoon)St. Thomas Island · forecast zone St. Thomas	0	$453K
1998-09-21	Hurricane (Typhoon)St. Croix Island and 2 more · forecast zone St. John	0	$453K

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

Records with deaths or injuries in St. Thomas Island, most deaths first
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2014-03-29	Rip CurrentSt. John Island and St. Thomas Island · forecast zone St. Thomas / St. John And Adjacent Islands Two drowned people on Hull Bay due to high surf. The second body was found dead on Sunday March 30.		2	0	–

The costliest records in St. Thomas Island since 1993, damage in 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Damage
1999-11-16	Hurricane (Typhoon)St. Croix Island and 2 more · forecast zone St. John	$8.9M
2004-09-14	Tropical StormSt. John Island and St. Thomas Island · forecast zone St. Thomas / St. John And Adjacent Islands	$3.7M
1999-11-16	Hurricane (Typhoon)St. Thomas Island · forecast zone St. Thomas	$1.8M
2003-11-11	FloodSt. John Island and St. Thomas Island · forecast zone St. Thomas / St. John And Adjacent Islands	$802K
1998-09-21	Hurricane (Typhoon)St. Thomas Island · forecast zone St. Thomas	$453K

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 St. Thomas Island'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).

St. Thomas Island: records per decade (the 2020s to June 30, 2026)
Hazard	1950s	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s	2010s	2020-26
Floods	–	–	–	–	7	4	27	5
Hurricanes and tropical storms	–	–	–	–	7	4	9	5
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	–	–	–	–	8	7	0	0
Drought	–	–	–	–	0	0	0	12
Heavy rain	–	–	–	–	0	6	5	0

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 St. Thomas Island. The two busiest months are in violet.

The values, month by month

Jan 6 · Feb 11 · Mar 4 · Apr 2 · May 10 · Jun 12 · Jul 11 · Aug 21 · Sep 15 · Oct 11 · Nov 12 · Dec 8 (records).

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

Federal disaster declarations for St. Thomas Island

FEMA's register lists 28 declarations that include St. Thomas Island: 19 major disasters, 9 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (17) and flood (3).

Declarations including St. Thomas Island, newest first
Declared	Number	Type	Title
2024-10-25	DR-4841	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Ernesto
2024-08-18	EM-3611	Tropical Storm	Tropical Storm Ernesto
2020-07-29	EM-3531	Hurricane	Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine
2020-04-02	DR-4513	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic
2020-03-13	EM-3433	Biological	Covid-19
2019-08-28	EM-3418	Hurricane	Hurricane Dorian
2017-09-20	DR-4340	Hurricane	Hurricane Maria
2017-09-18	EM-3390	Hurricane	Hurricane Maria
2017-09-07	DR-4335	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma
2017-09-05	EM-3383	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma
2010-11-05	DR-1948	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Landslides
2010-09-28	DR-1939	Hurricane	Hurricane Earl
2008-10-29	DR-1807	Hurricane	Hurricane Omar
2004-10-07	DR-1567	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Jeanne
2003-12-09	DR-1503	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides
1999-11-23	DR-1309	Hurricane	Hurricane Lenny Major Declaration
1999-11-17	EM-3152	Hurricane	Hurricane Lenny
1998-09-24	DR-1248	Hurricane	Hurricane Georges - 18 Sep 98
1996-07-11	DR-1126	Hurricane	Hurricane Bertha
1995-09-16	DR-1067	Hurricane	Hurricane Marilyn
1989-09-20	DR-841	Hurricane	Hurricane Hugo
1984-12-10	DR-729	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Klaus
1983-04-30	DR-681	Flood	Severe Storms, Flooding & Mudslides
1979-09-16	DR-602	Hurricane	Hurricane David, Tropical Storm Frederic
1977-06-14	EM-3042	Drought	Drought
1974-11-14	DR-451	Flood	Severe Storms, Landslides & Flooding
1974-07-22	EM-3001	Drought	Drought, Livestock Losses
1970-10-17	DR-298	Flood	Heavy Rains & Flooding

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.

How many floods has St. Thomas Island had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 43 flood or flash flood records for St. Thomas Island from 1998 to 2024, on 26 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), St. Thomas Island ranks 258th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

Named storms on St. Thomas Island's flood and tropical record
Storm	Began	Records
Tropical Storm Jeanne	2004-09-14	1
Hurricane Lenny	1999-11-16	2
Hurricane Georges	1998-09-21	2

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $37.3 million on 1,386 claims filed in St. Thomas Island; the most in one year was 298 in 1995. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

The values, year by year

1978: 2 · 1979: 28 · 1980: 4 · 1981: 6 · 1982: 3 · 1983: 136 · 1984: 71 · 1985: 5 · 1986: 10 · 1987: 37 · 1988: 7 · 1989: 233 · 1990: 5 · 1991: 1 · 1992: 6 · 1995: 298 · 1996: 57 · 1997: 2 · 1998: 41 · 1999: 94 · 2000: 6 · 2001: 9 · 2002: 1 · 2003: 33 · 2004: 68 · 2005: 2 · 2007: 6 · 2008: 4 · 2009: 2 · 2010: 42 · 2011: 4 · 2013: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2017: 146 · 2018: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2024: 4; the other years: 0.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Counties that share a border with St. Thomas Island

St. Thomas Island 123
St. John Island 63

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