New York floods
Every recorded flood since 1996 · 62 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 6,836 floods and flash floods in New York from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 227 a year since 2000. The deadliest was Hurricane Sandy (October 29, 2012): 39 deaths across 6 records. New York ranks 8th of 52 states and territories by count and 15th of 51 per square mile.
Floods in New York, 1996 to 2026
Flood records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 6,8361996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 227average
- Deaths
- 11750 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $5.3Bas filed
- Busiest year
- 2011484 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are floods and flash floods common in New York?
New York averages about 227 floods and flash floods a year since 2000, 8th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2011 (484). Per 10,000 square miles of land, New York records 1451 floods and flash floods since 1996, 15th of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in New York have the most floods and flash floods?
Per square mile, Queens County leads New York: 130 days with a flood since 1996, 1195.7 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Suffolk County has the most flood records (372 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is flood season in New York?
New York's floods and flash floods by month. The busiest month is July (1,233 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 559 · Feb 140 · Mar 345 · Apr 433 · May 455 · Jun 766 · Jul 1,233 · Aug 1,107 · Sep 684 · Oct 447 · Nov 259 · Dec 408 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest floods and flash floods in New York?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-10-29 | Hurricane Sandy · Coastal FloodRichmond County · forecast zone Richmond (Staten Is.) One storm episode: 6 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. Post Tropical Storm Sandy was the costliest natural disaster in Southeast New York. Tropical Storm Sandy formed in the Caribbean Sea on October 22. After drifting slowly southwest on October 23, Sandy turned to the north and intensified to a hurricane on October 24, just before making landfall in Jamaica. Hurricane ... | 39 | 0 | – | |
| 2021-09-01 | Hurricane Ida · Flash FloodWoodside, Queens County One named storm filed by several offices: 31 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. Extremely heavy rainfall associated with the remnants of Hurricane Ida overspread southeast New York during the evening of September 1 and continued through the early morning hours of September 2. Rainfall totals ranged from 5-8 inches across much of the region, with much of that rain falling in just a few hours. The ... | 18 | 0 | $515M | |
| 2011-08-28 | Hurricane Irene · Flash FloodClarksville, Albany County One named storm filed by several offices: 17 records in 4 episodes; the totals are the storm's. Tropical Storm Irene tracked north northeast across eastern New York and western New England during Sunday, August 28th, producing widespread flooding, and damaging winds across the region. Irene tracked from a position over New York City around 8 AM EST Sunday, to approximately 10 miles west of Danbury, CT at 10 AM ... | 9 | 1 | $85M | |
| 1996-01-19 | Flash FloodCountywide, Delaware County | 6 | 0 | $17M | |
| 2003-06-13 | Flash FloodDoraville, Broome County Showers with heavy rain trained across eastern Broome County into western Delaware County the evening of the June 13th. The showers started around 7 PM EST and continued for three hours. Radar rainfall estimates were 3 to 5 inches. Their was no cloud to ground lightning. A narrow area was affected from the town of ... | 5 | 0 | $160K | |
| 2007-06-19 | Flash FloodColchester, Delaware County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. High pressure moved off the east coast ahead of an approaching cold front, allowing southwest winds to bring a flow of hot and humid air across the region. Showers and thunderstorms developed out ahead of this strong cold front, with numerous reports of large hail and wind damage. | 4 | 0 | $43M | |
| 1996-06-03 | FloodCountywide, Queens County | 2 | 21 | – | |
| 2003-10-29 | FloodDelaware County · forecast zone Delaware The West Branch of the Delaware River in the town on Delhi went over its banks. About two miles upstream of the village of Delhi the river came onto Back River Road, also known as County Route 18. Just after 6 PM, a 43 year old woman and mother of two drove into the flooded section of the road. Her car was swept into ... | 2 | 1 | $80K | |
| 1999-09-16 | Hurricane Floyd · Flash FloodCountywide, Rockland County One named storm filed by several offices: 13 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. Torrential record rainfall, which caused serious widespread urban, small stream, and river flooding, preceded the remnants of Hurricane Floyd, which passed over Western Suffolk County of Long Island from 7 pm to 9 pm on September 16th.Death: In Rockland County, a 53-year old man died around midnight on the 17th when ... | 2 | 0 | $45M | |
| 1998-07-08 | FloodWyoming County · forecast zone Wyoming One storm episode: 10 records in 4 places, 1998-07-08 to 1998-07-09; the totals are the episode's. Localized thunderstorms early in the morning of the 8th dropped three to five inches of rain across parts of Erie, Genesee, Wyoming and Livingston counties. Over five inches fell in just a few hours over much of Wyoming county. This resulted in rare, widespread devastating flash flooding. Many small streams and creeks ... | 2 | 0 | $5.3M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest floods and flash floods in New York
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-09-07 | Tropical Storm Lee · FloodOwego, Tioga County One named storm filed by several offices: 40 records in 2 episodes, 2011-09-07 to 2011-09-08; the totals are the storm's. | 0 | 0 | $1.4B | |
| 2021-09-01 | Hurricane Ida · Flash FloodWoodside, Queens County One named storm filed by several offices: 31 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. | 18 | 0 | $515M | |
| 2006-06-27 | Flash FloodCountywide, Delaware County | 2 | 0 | $366M | |
| 2006-06-27 | Flash FloodCountywide, Broome County | 0 | 0 | $293M | |
| 2006-06-27 | Flash FloodCountywide, Tioga County | 0 | 0 | $146M | |
| 2006-06-27 | Flash FloodNorth Portion, Sullivan County | 1 | 0 | $146M | |
| 2009-08-09 | Flash FloodGowanda, Cattaraugus County One storm episode: 5 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 1 | 1 | $124M | |
| 2011-08-28 | Hurricane Irene · Flash FloodClarksville, Albany County One named storm filed by several offices: 17 records in 4 episodes; the totals are the storm's. | 9 | 1 | $85M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are floods and flash floods becoming more frequent in New York?
New York's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | New York | United States | New York's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 914 | 20,986 | 4.4% |
| 2000s | 1,918 | 54,913 | 3.5% |
| 2010s | 2,378 | 68,322 | 3.5% |
| 2020-26 | 1,626 | 43,563 | 3.7% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent floods and flash floods in New York
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-18 | Flash FloodGtr Buffalo Int, Erie County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-18 | Flash FloodBuffalo, Erie County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-18 | Flash FloodSaratoga Spgs, Saratoga County | 0 | 0 | $5K | |
| 2026-04-01 | FloodCortland County | 0 | 0 | $25K | |
| 2026-04-01 | FloodSheldrake, Cayuga County | 0 | 0 | $50K | |
| 2026-04-01 | FloodPoland, Herkimer County | 0 | 0 | $250K | |
| 2026-03-31 | FloodPoland, Herkimer County | 0 | 0 | $250K | |
| 2026-03-31 | Flash FloodHoughton College Arp, Allegany County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-31 | Flash FloodSwain, Allegany County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-31 | Flash FloodCanaseraga, Allegany County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-31 | Flash FloodHume, Allegany County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-31 | Flash FloodEast Varick, Seneca County | 0 | 0 | $2K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for floods and flash floods in New York
FEMA has declared 54 disasters in New York for floods and flash floods, counting its incident type and declarations that name flood in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 52 were major disasters, the latest on October 21, 2024.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-10-21 | DR-4839 | Severe Storm and Flooding | 3 |
| 2024-09-20 | DR-4818 | Severe Storm and Flooding | 1 |
| 2024-08-29 | DR-4814 | Severe Storm, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 5 |
| 2024-08-25 | EM-3613 | Severe Storm and Flooding | 1 |
| 2024-01-30 | DR-4755 | Severe Storm and Flooding | 3 |
| 2023-07-22 | DR-4723 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 9 |
| 2019-12-19 | DR-4472 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 18 |
| 2018-10-01 | DR-4397 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 7 |
| 2017-11-14 | DR-4348 | Flooding | 8 |
| 2014-12-22 | DR-4204 | Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, and Flooding | 9 |
| 2014-07-08 | DR-4180 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 11 |
| 2013-07-12 | DR-4129 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 16 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Queens County: the county's whole recordThe New York county with the most floods and flash floods per square mile
- Floods across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in New YorkTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Severe thunderstorm wind in New York19,988 records
- Winter storms in New York13,456 records
- Hail in New York5,067 records