Chester, PA
Chester County in Pennsylvania has 13 FEMA disaster declarations on record covering 1971–2021, most recently Remnants of Hurricane Ida on Sep 10, 2021 (DR-4618). Its flood risk grade is B (Moderate risk), ranking #110 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 48 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $2,403,796 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.
FEMA Disaster Declarations in Chester County
The 13 most recent federally declared disasters affecting Chester County, PA (1971–2021). Total declarations on record: 13.
| Declared | Incident Type | Title | FEMA Disaster # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 10, 2021 | Hurricane | Remnants of Hurricane Ida | DR-4618 |
| Oct 29, 2012 | Hurricane | Hurricane Sandy | DR-3356 |
| Sep 12, 2011 | Flood | Tropical Storm Lee | DR-4030 |
| Sep 8, 2011 | Flood | Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee | DR-3340 |
| Sep 3, 2011 | Hurricane | Hurricane Irene | DR-4025 |
| Aug 29, 2011 | Hurricane | Hurricane Irene | DR-3339 |
| Sep 10, 2005 | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina | DR-3235 |
| Sep 19, 2004 | Hurricane | Tropical Depression Ivan | DR-1557 |
| Sep 18, 1999 | Hurricane | Hurricane Floyd Major Disaster Declarations | DR-1294 |
| Jan 21, 1996 | Flood | Severe Storms and Flooding | DR-1093 |
| Jul 17, 1973 | Flood | Severe Storms & Flooding | DR-400 |
| Jun 23, 1972 | Flood | Tropical Storm Agnes | DR-340 |
| Sep 18, 1971 | Flood | Floods | DR-312 |
Score Breakdown
The composite score of 22 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.
Other Counties in Pennsylvania
| County | Grade | Score | Claims | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northampton | B | 22 | 20 | 12 |
| Delaware | B | 22 | 79 | 13 |
| Philadelphia | B | 22 | 74 | 13 |
| Bucks | B | 23 | 102 | 15 |
| Schuylkill | B | 21 | 34 | 11 |
| Lancaster | B | 21 | 31 | 11 |
More Counties in Pennsylvania
Frequently Asked Questions
How many FEMA disaster declarations does Chester County, PA have?
Chester County, PA has 13 federal disaster declarations on FEMA record (1971–2021). The 5 most recent are: Remnants of Hurricane Ida (declared Sep 10, 2021, DR-4618); Hurricane Sandy (declared Oct 29, 2012, DR-3356); Tropical Storm Lee (declared Sep 12, 2011, DR-4030); Remnants of Tropical Storm Lee (declared Sep 8, 2011, DR-3340); Hurricane Irene (declared Sep 3, 2011, DR-4025). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.
What is the flood risk grade for Chester County, PA?
Chester County is graded B (composite score 22/100, moderate risk). It ranks #110 of 3,277 U.S. counties for flood risk in our scoring model. The grade combines NFIP claims density (40%), disaster frequency (25%), claim severity (20%), and year-over-year trend (15%).
How many NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Chester County?
48 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Chester County, PA, totaling $2,403,796 in payouts. The average claim is $50,079. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.
Has Chester County, PA had any recent flood disasters?
Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting Chester County was Remnants of Hurricane Ida on Sep 10, 2021 (DR-4618). The county has 13 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1971–2021.
The this entity record above pulls directly from FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims. What follows is the per-entity context — how this entity sits in the broader U.S. flood risk, NFIP claims, and disaster declarations distribution and which underlying factors drive the headline numbers.
Every number on this page links back to FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims; the methodology page describes the inputs, refresh cadence, and known limitations of the underlying data product.
Practical use of this page is in combination with the comparison and ranking pages elsewhere on the site, which surface the same data for this entity’s peers within U.S. ZIPs, counties, and states. A single-entity reading without peer context can be misleading when an entity is an outlier on one axis but typical on another.
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA datasets, 2026.