Sussex, DE
Sussex County in Delaware has 8 FEMA disaster declarations on record covering 1992–2012, most recently Hurricane Sandy on Nov 16, 2012 (DR-4090). Its flood risk grade is A (Low risk), ranking #3215 of 3,277 U.S. counties, with 64 NFIP flood insurance claims totaling $748,940 in payouts. Flood risk is relatively low compared to the national average.
FEMA Disaster Declarations in Sussex County
The 8 most recent federally declared disasters affecting Sussex County, DE (1992–2012). Total declarations on record: 8.
| Declared | Incident Type | Title | FEMA Disaster # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 16, 2012 | Hurricane | Hurricane Sandy | DR-4090 |
| Oct 29, 2012 | Hurricane | Hurricane Sandy | DR-3357 |
| Sep 30, 2011 | Hurricane | Hurricane Irene | DR-4037 |
| Aug 28, 2011 | Hurricane | Hurricane Irene | DR-3336 |
| Sep 30, 2005 | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | DR-3263 |
| Sep 20, 2003 | Hurricane | Hurricane Isabel | DR-1494 |
| Jan 15, 1993 | Coastal Storm | Severe Coastal Storm & Flooding | DR-976 |
| Feb 6, 1992 | Flood | Severe Coastal Storm | DR-933 |
Score Breakdown
The composite score of 7 is calculated from four weighted factors. See our methodology for details.
Other Counties in Delaware
| County | Grade | Score | Claims | Disasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide | A | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| Kent | A | 11 | 7 | 8 |
| New Castle | A | 20 | 39 | 9 |
More Counties in Delaware
Frequently Asked Questions
How many FEMA disaster declarations does Sussex County, DE have?
Sussex County, DE has 8 federal disaster declarations on FEMA record (1992–2012). The 5 most recent are: Hurricane Sandy (declared Nov 16, 2012, DR-4090); Hurricane Sandy (declared Oct 29, 2012, DR-3357); Hurricane Irene (declared Sep 30, 2011, DR-4037); Hurricane Irene (declared Aug 28, 2011, DR-3336); Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (declared Sep 30, 2005, DR-3263). Counts include flood, severe storm, hurricane, and coastal storm declarations from the OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries dataset.
What is the flood risk grade for Sussex County, DE?
Sussex County is graded A (composite score 7/100, low risk). It ranks #3215 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 Sussex County?
64 NFIP flood insurance claims have been filed in Sussex County, DE, totaling $748,940 in payouts. The average claim is $11,702. Source: FEMA FimaNfipClaims v2 dataset.
Has Sussex County, DE had any recent flood disasters?
Yes. The most recent FEMA declaration affecting Sussex County was Hurricane Sandy on Nov 16, 2012 (DR-4090). The county has 8 declared disasters in the OpenFEMA record covering 1992–2012.
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.
The methodology behind every numeric value on this page is publicly documented on the FEMA OpenFEMA datasets including the National Flood Hazard Layer and NFIP claims portal and described in detail on this site’s methodology page. Refresh cadence varies by underlying series; the page surfaces the as-of date for each number so readers can trace any figure back to the source release.
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.