Disaster Data / States / Maryland / Cecil County

County

Cecil County, Maryland

Cecil County recorded 8 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 6 emergency declarations and 0 fire management declarations, 14 in all. Its most common hazard is hurricane.

Highlighted: Cecil County, MD

Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 26, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals

8
Major disasters
6
Emergency declarations
0
Fire management grants
14
All declarations on record
Jan 2026
Most recent
$4.2M
Federal PA obligated (top: emergency protective measures)

The federal disaster record for Cecil County runs between 2003 and 2026, covering 14 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020. The hazards behind these declarations were most often hurricane, snowstorm, and biological. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $4.2 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for emergency protective measures.

Past 12 months

Recent declarations and aid so far

Cecil County has been named in 1 federal declaration in the past 12 months. The figures are what FEMA has reported for Cecil County to date and grow as recovery continues. It falls in a complete fiscal year and is counted in the totals above.

DeclarationDeclaredHouseholds approvedIndividual AssistancePublic Assistance obligated
EM-3634-MDEmergency · Winter StormJan 24, 2026Incident period Jan 23 to 27, 2026None reportedNone reportedNone reported yet

Individual Assistance is FEMA's Individuals and Households Program, from OpenFEMA's Housing Assistance data for owners and renters. Public Assistance is the obligated federal share from OpenFEMA's grant award activity, which usually starts posting weeks to months after a declaration. Select a declaration number to open its full event profile, with the same figures for every place it covers.

Risk and vulnerability context

Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.

County FIPS 24015
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
32.2
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 32.2% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status29.9
Household characteristics25.4
Racial and ethnic minority status48.4
Housing type and transportation46.6

Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
58.6
overall risk score
Relatively Low
Expected annual loss$23.2MRelatively Low
NRI social vulnerability21.9Relatively Low
Community resilience60.9Relatively High

The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation

About these measures: CDC Social Vulnerability Index and FEMA National Risk Index Social Vulnerability are separate measures built with different methods. They are shown side by side for context and should not be interpreted as equivalent scores.

Federal Public Assistance obligated

$4M has been obligated to Cecil County in Public Assistance since FY2000.

$2M followed major disasters other than COVID-19. $227K followed emergency declarations, which cover debris removal and emergency protective work only. $2M, or 48% of the total, was COVID-19, which every county in the country received.

Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out.

Federal Public Assistance by category

Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.

CategoryProjectsFederal share obligated
Emergency protective measures(B)102$3,575,458
Debris removal(A)25$242,885
Roads and bridges(C)21$139,602
Utilities(F)6$96,561
Parks and recreation(G)11$91,871
Buildings and equipment(E)7$32,863
Water control facilities(D)1$5,514
Management costs(Z)1$0
All categories174$4,184,754

Recovery funding, how fast it came

For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 7-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 79 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.

Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$2.0M
525 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm 2016$362K
69 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Sandy 2012$129K
76 days to first federal obligation
Remnants Of Tropical Storm Lee 2011$212K
66 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Irene 2011$255K
85 days to first federal obligation
Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorms 2010$365K
83 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 yr6 yr7 yr

Assistance to households (Individual Assistance)

FEMA Individual Assistance to households in this jurisdiction, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved counts and dollars are the households FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Figures are self-reported and drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, not audited, and Individual Assistance exists only for disasters where it was designated, so many jurisdictions show none.

453
valid registrations
270
households approved
$1,494,142
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$250,739
Rental assistance$169,710
Other needs$1,072,796

Hazard mitigation, what has been funded here

Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance obligated to this jurisdiction to reduce future disaster losses, across the FEMA mitigation programs. This is the record of past mitigation investment a local hazard mitigation plan documents. Figures are federal share obligated, reported through OpenFEMA and not audited, and are separate from the Public Assistance funding above.

$2,061,735
federal mitigation share
12
funded projects
20
properties mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)10$2,003,535
Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities(BRIC)1$30,000
Flood Mitigation Assistance(FMA)1$28,200

State declarations (governor)

Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.

8
state declarations with local storm evidence
31
statewide on record

Archive coverage for Maryland: 2023-present structured Governor archive; three isolated 2007/2012 records are not continuous older coverage

SignedOrderDeclarationHazards reported hereReported damage
May 15, 202501.01.2025.12Declaration of a State of Emergency (EO# 01.01.2025.12) — WHEREAS Having been advised and informed by the Maryland Department of Emergency Management that, as a result of the severe weather that impacted Allegany and Garrett Counties on May 13, 2025, which included flash flooding, evacuations, sheltering, and search and rescue operations, actions are needed to support damage assessment and recovery activities;Thunderstorm Wind$2,000
Aug 6, 202401.01.2024.26Declaring a State of Preparedness - Severe Weather Impact of Hurricane Debby (EO# 01.01.2024.26)Thunderstorm Wind$105,000
Jan 9, 202401.01.2024.03Declaration of a State of Preparedness (EO# 01.01.2024.03) — WHEREAS, Having been advised and informed by the Maryland Department of Emergency Management that, as a result of the severe weather expected to impact the State, there is a significant risk of: tidal and aerial flooding resulting from ground saturation;FloodNot reported
Jul 31, 2016MD-SOE-2016-07-31State of emergency for Howard County (Ellicott City) thunderstorms and flash floodingHeavy RainNot reported
Oct 26, 2012MD-SOE-2012-10-26Statewide state of emergency for Hurricane SandyFlood$500,000
Aug 25, 2011MD-SOE-2011-08-25Statewide state of emergency for Hurricane IreneFlash Flood, Flood$110,000
Jul 14, 2004MD-SOE-2004-07-14Limited state of emergency for Cecil and Harford counties after storms and severe floodingFlash Flood$2,000,000
Sep 16, 2003MD-SOE-2003-09-16State of emergency ahead of Hurricane Isabel, calling the Maryland National Guard to active serviceFlash Flood, Heavy RainNot reported

Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.

Most common hazards

Every declaration on record

Major disaster (DR). The big one. Opens the full toolbox: repair money for public infrastructure, help for households, and mitigation funding to reduce the next loss.

Emergency (EM). Narrower and usually faster, for protective work before or during an incident. Capped, and rarely brings household assistance. Nearly every county has one from COVID-19.

Fire management (FM). Cost sharing to fight a wildfire as it burns. Not a disaster declaration, and it does not open recovery programs.

Showing 14 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Jan 24, 2026EM-3634-MDEMWinter StormSevere Winter Storm
Mar 26, 2020DR-4491-MDDRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3430-MDEMBiologicalCovid-19
Mar 4, 2016DR-4261-MDDRSnowstormSevere Winter Storm And Snowstorm
Nov 20, 2012DR-4091-MDDRHurricaneHurricane Sandy
Oct 28, 2012EM-3349-MDEMHurricaneHurricane Sandy
Oct 5, 2011DR-4038-MDDRFloodRemnants Of Tropical Storm Lee
Sep 16, 2011DR-4034-MDDRHurricaneHurricane Irene
Aug 27, 2011EM-3335-MDEMHurricaneHurricane Irene
May 6, 2010DR-1910-MDDRSnowstormSevere Winter Storms And Snowstorms
Feb 19, 2010DR-1875-MDDRSnowstormSevere Winter Storm And Snowstorm
Sep 13, 2005EM-3251-MDEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
Sep 19, 2003DR-1492-MDDRHurricaneHurricane Isabel
Mar 14, 2003EM-3179-MDEMSevere StormSnow
← Maryland statewide overview · All Maryland jurisdictions

How these numbers are built

Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to Maryland's statewide total. This page counts declarations that named this jurisdiction as a designated area. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30). Declarations from the fiscal year still in progress are listed in the tables on this page but are not counted in the totals until the year is complete. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.

Cite this profile

Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.

Other Maryland jurisdictions