PlainHazard

Puerto Rico natural disasters

The territory's storm and disaster record · population 3,281,204 · 78 counties and county equivalents

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 6,666 storm events in Puerto Rico since 1950, 6,626 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded, and the Storm Prediction Center counts 33 tornadoes in the state since 1950. The most frequent records are floods and flash floods (3,810). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest storm in Puerto Rico is Hurricane Maria (September 20, 2017): 20 deaths and $22 billion in damage in 2025 dollars across 50 records. FEMA has made 51 declarations for Puerto Rico since 1956, 48 for natural hazards; 36 were major disasters.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm events recorded in Puerto Rico 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 $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
  • 1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
  • 1996: all 48 event types from 1996
Storm events recorded
6,6661950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded
290177 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars
$24.4Bas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes (SPC)
331950 to 2025
FEMA declarations
5136 major disasters

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); tornado count: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, 1950-2025; damage in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U). Search the record at NCEI.

What natural disasters happen in Puerto Rico?

By NOAA's records, Puerto Rico's most frequent hazards are floods and flash floods (3,810), heavy rain records (769), landslide and avalanche records (629); the deadliest are rip current and surf records (177 deaths). Each hazard is counted over the years NOAA has recorded it everywhere: tornadoes since 1950, hail and thunderstorm wind since 1955, everything else since 1996. Open a hazard for its years, months, counties and worst events.

Puerto Rico: records by hazard to June 30, 2026
HazardRecordsLast 10 yearsKilledInjuredDamageCounties
Floods 3,8101,741 8319$23.5B 78 of 78
Heavy rain 76947 1310$1.4M 68 of 78
Landslides and avalanches 629319 34$11M 71 of 78
Severe thunderstorm wind 369175 114$30M 64 of 78
Rip currents and high surf 219132 177105$6.3M 63 of 78
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds 18534 00$500K 74 of 78
Heat 184184 00– 61 of 78
Hurricanes and tropical storms 17865 42$829M 78 of 78
Hail 8125 01$653K 29 of 78
Lightning 6034 917$708K 35 of 78
High wind and dust storms 5417 03$588K 77 of 78
Drought 4824 00$6.0M 72 of 78
Wildfires 472 02$13M 50 of 78
Tornadoes 268 00$2.1M 15 of 78
Extreme cold 70 00– 12 of 78

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: every record counted once in the state; "last 10 years" is 2017-2026 (2026 to June 30, 2026).

What were the deadliest disasters in Puerto Rico?

The storms with the most deaths since 1950, from the National Weather Service's own entries. NOAA files one storm as several records when it crosses forecast zones and counties or changes type, and groups them under one episode; each row here is an episode, with its totals and the narrative of its deadliest record. Before 1996 tornado records carry no episode and stand alone. The narrative says what happened: some deaths the National Weather Service files under a weather type had another cause beside the weather.

Puerto Rico: the 10 storm episodes with the most deaths
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2017-09-20 Hurricane Maria · Flash FloodToa Baja Municipio One storm episode: 50 records in 42 places; the totals are the episode's. Hurricane Maria was a catastrophic category 4 hurricane which devastated the island of Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. Maximum sustained winds of 175 mph as it was approaching the county warning area. The direction was towards the west northwest with the eye clipping Saint Croix and Vieques. The hurricane then made ... 20 0 $22.0B
2011-11-07 Flash FloodArecibo Municipio A van with 10 inmates and 2 guards was overturned by a rush of water flowing down a dry gut. From the 12 passengers, 4 were rescued, 2 guards and 2 inmates, 8 bodies were recovered. According to EMS officials, the dry gut was already swollen and flooded the nearby area before the van tried to travel through at the ... 8 0 $33K
1998-10-26 Hurricane Georges · Heavy RainCeiba, Humacao Municipio One named storm filed by several offices: 4 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. A surge of water in Rio Fajardo washed away and drowned one adult and two children. 5 0 $3.6M
2008-09-21 Flash FloodGuayama, Aguada Municipio One storm episode: 6 records in 4 places, 2008-09-21 to 2008-09-22; the totals are the episode's. During the three day period of September 21-23, 2008, parts of Puerto Rico suffered from one of the most catastrophic flooding events of the season to date. The flooding affected many municipalities island wide. The torrential rainfall resulted in severe flooding to rivers, streams, and roads, causing sinkholes, ... 5 0 $34M
2026-03-18 Rip CurrentArecibo Municipio and 6 more · forecast zone North Central One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. Breezy easterly winds generated choppy to rough seas across the regional waters, increasing wave action along exposed beaches. As a result, life-threatening rip currents persisted along many exposed beaches in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands through the middle of March. 4 6 –
2004-09-14 Tropical Storm Jeanne · Tropical StormCabo Rojo Municipio and 2 more · forecast zone Southwest One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. Tropical Storm Jeanne and its associated weather affected Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra from Sep. 14-17. On its wake it left considerable damages to the electric power grid, the water supply system, highways and roads, bridges, schools, individual households, businesses and commerce due to extensive flooding, ... 4 1 $265M
2023-03-03 Rip CurrentArecibo Municipio and 6 more · forecast zone North Central One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A long period northeasterly swell combined with locally generated wind waves produced confused choppy seas and large breaking waves during the first week of March. 3 6 –
2023-03-16 Rip CurrentCanóvanas Municipio and 6 more · forecast zone Northeast One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. A long period northerly swell and wind-driven seas resulted in large breaking waves along the north coast of Puerto Rico during the week of March 16th. Life-threatening rip currents and high surf conditions were observed with this event. 3 5 –
2026-05-10 Rip CurrentArecibo Municipio and 6 more · forecast zone North Central Three males (aged 49-58 years) were swept away by rip currents and drowned near Cueva del Indio Beach in Barrio Islote, Arecibo. 3 3 –
2025-08-24 Rip CurrentArecibo Municipio and 6 more · forecast zone North Central One storm episode: 5 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A long period northerly swell from the then distant TC Erin and AL90 promoted life-threatening rip currents, rough surf conditions, and Small Craft Advisory conditions during the penultimate weekend of August. Three fatalities and multiple injuries were reported at north-oriented beaches of Puerto Rico. 3 0 –

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed in this state, summed over the records of each episode (EPISODE_ID); a forecast-zone record counts the zone's deaths once. A tornado's whole-track deaths (SPC), on the state's tornado page, can be higher when the track crossed a state line. Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest records in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico: the 8 records with the most damage since 1993, 2025 dollars
DateRecordCharacterKilledInjuredDamage
2017-09-20 Flash FloodToa Baja Municipio 9 0 $3.0B
2017-09-20 Flash FloodAguas Buenas Municipio 0 0 $903M
2017-09-06 Flash FloodAdjuntas Municipio 0 0 $903M
2017-09-20 Flash FloodPonce Municipio 0 0 $602M
1998-09-21 Hurricane (Typhoon)Humacao Municipio · forecast zone Humacao 0 0 $518M
2017-09-20 Flash FloodComerio, Comerío Municipio 0 0 $301M
2004-09-14 Tropical StormGuayama Municipio and 4 more · forecast zone Southeast 1 0 $159M
2004-09-14 Tropical StormAibonito Municipio and 9 more · forecast zone Central Interior 0 1 $106M

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $250K, in the dollars of the day) holds: August 30, 1974 (tornado, Bayamón Municipio).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. BLS consumer price index.

Which counties in Puerto Rico have the most records?

  1. San Juan Municipio 702
  2. Adjuntas Municipio 387
  3. Aguadilla Municipio 384
  4. Vega Alta Municipio 323
  5. Guaynabo Municipio 319
  6. Arecibo Municipio 317
  7. Carolina Municipio 308
  8. Naguabo Municipio 298
  9. Bayamón Municipio 293
  10. Vega Baja Municipio 276
  11. Humacao Municipio 266
  12. Caguas Municipio 263

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950 attributed to each county (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).

Every county in Puerto Rico

Federal disaster declarations in Puerto Rico

FEMA has made 51 declarations for Puerto Rico since 1956: 36 major disasters, 15 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are hurricane (20), severe storm (11), flood (11).

  1. Hurricane 20
  2. Severe Storm 11
  3. Flood 11
  4. Biological 2
  5. Earthquake 2
  6. Drought 2
  7. Tropical Storm 1
  8. Fire 1
  1. 1950s 1
  2. 1960s 1
  3. 1970s 5
  4. 1980s 5
  5. 1990s 7
  6. 2000s 7
  7. 2010s 11
  8. 2020s 14
The 15 most recent declarations in Puerto Rico
DeclaredNumberTypeTitleAreas named
2024-11-27DR-4850Tropical StormTropical Storm Ernesto38
2024-08-13EM-3610Severe StormTropical Storm Ernesto78
2024-07-23DR-4805FloodSevere Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides13
2022-09-21DR-4671HurricaneHurricane Fiona78
2022-09-18EM-3583HurricaneTropical Storm Fiona78
2022-03-29DR-4649FloodSevere Storm, Flooding, and Landslides5
2020-11-05DR-4571FloodSevere Storm and Flooding1
2020-09-09DR-4560HurricaneHurricane Isaias4
2020-08-22EM-3537HurricaneTropical Storm Laura78
2020-07-29EM-3532HurricanePotential Tropical Cyclone Nine78
2020-03-27DR-4493BiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic78
2020-03-13EM-3452BiologicalCovid-1978
2020-01-16DR-4473EarthquakeEarthquakes34
2020-01-07EM-3426EarthquakeEarthquakes78
2019-08-27EM-3417Severe StormTropical Storm Dorian78

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Flood insurance claims in Puerto Rico

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $57.5 million on 8,702 claims in 24 Puerto Rico counties. Claims count insured losses only.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

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