Disaster Data / States / Massachusetts / Middlesex County
CountyMiddlesex County recorded 12 federal major disaster declarations since FY2000 (through FY2026), the federal government's fullest response to an event. Alongside those sit 14 emergency declarations and 0 fire management declarations, 26 in all. Its most common hazard is severe storm.
Highlighted: Middlesex County, MA
Totals: FY2000 to FY2026 · Page last rebuilt Oct 26, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals
The federal disaster record for Middlesex County runs between 2001 and 2023, covering 26 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020. The hazards behind these declarations were most often severe storm, snowstorm, and hurricane. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $686.9 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for emergency protective measures.
Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.
Approximately 28.5% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.
Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation
The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation
$687M has been obligated to Middlesex County in Public Assistance since FY2000.
$59M followed major disasters other than COVID-19. $26M followed emergency declarations, which cover debris removal and emergency protective work only. $602M, or 88% of the total, was COVID-19, which every county in the country received. $225K appears in FEMA's county totals but is not tied to a single declaration in the obligation timing file, so it is left unattributed here rather than assigned to a type.
Obligated is the committed share, not necessarily spent, and can be revised as projects close out.
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.
| Category | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency protective measures(B) | 1,841 | $666,027,066 |
| Management costs(Z) | 59 | $8,213,950 |
| Debris removal(A) | 154 | $5,835,477 |
| Utilities(F) | 64 | $3,052,703 |
| Roads and bridges(C) | 196 | $1,517,010 |
| Buildings and equipment(E) | 130 | $1,361,584 |
| Parks and recreation(G) | 35 | $551,024 |
| Water control facilities(D) | 9 | $311,159 |
| All categories | 2,488 | $686,869,973 |
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 8-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 111 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.
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.
| Program | Projects | Federal share obligated |
|---|---|---|
| Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP) | 51 | $11,950,020 |
| Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation(LPDM) | 8 | $8,644,025 |
| Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM) | 6 | $2,908,497 |
| Flood Mitigation Assistance(FMA) | 4 | $92,191 |
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.
Archive coverage for Massachusetts: 1970-present from the official State Library executive-order collection (orders before 1970 left off); unnumbered proclamation backfill pending; plus 4 weather declarations from FMCSA's archive of state emergency declarations (2017-present)
| Signed | Order | Declaration | Hazards reported here | Reported damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12, 2023 | MA-PROC-2023-09-12-5a06b71f | Governor Healey Declares State of Emergency Over Catastrophic Flood Damage | Flood | Not reported |
| Oct 27, 2012 | MA-PROC-2012-10-27 | State of emergency ahead of Hurricane Sandy. | Flood | Not reported |
| Aug 26, 2011 | MA-PROC-2011-08-26 | State of emergency ahead of Hurricane Irene, with the National Guard mobilized. | Flood | $5,000 |
| Jun 1, 2011 | MA-PROC-2011-06-01 | State of emergency for tornadoes and severe weather in western and central Massachusetts, including Springfield and Westfield. | Hail, Thunderstorm Wind | $8,000 |
| Mar 15, 2010 | MA-PROC-2010-03-15 | State of emergency for heavy rainfall and river flooding on saturated ground. | Flood | $26,430,000 |
Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.
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 26 declarations
| Date | Number | Type | Hazard | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2023 | EM-3599-MA | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Lee |
| Mar 27, 2020 | DR-4496-MA | DR | Biological | Covid-19 Pandemic |
| Mar 13, 2020 | EM-3438-MA | EM | Biological | Covid-19 |
| Jul 19, 2018 | DR-4379-MA | DR | Snowstorm | Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm |
| Apr 13, 2015 | DR-4214-MA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding |
| Apr 19, 2013 | DR-4110-MA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storm, Snowstorm, And Flooding |
| Apr 17, 2013 | EM-3362-MA | EM | Terrorist | Explosions |
| Oct 28, 2012 | EM-3350-MA | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Sandy |
| Jan 6, 2012 | DR-4051-MA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storm And Snowstorm |
| Nov 1, 2011 | EM-3343-MA | EM | Severe Storm | Severe Storm |
| Aug 26, 2011 | EM-3330-MA | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Irene |
| Mar 7, 2011 | DR-1959-MA | DR | Snowstorm | Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm |
| Sep 2, 2010 | EM-3315-MA | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Earl |
| May 3, 2010 | EM-3312-MA | EM | Other | Water Main Break |
| Mar 29, 2010 | DR-1895-MA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Jan 5, 2009 | DR-1813-MA | DR | Severe Ice Storm | Severe Winter Storm And Flooding |
| Dec 13, 2008 | EM-3296-MA | EM | Severe Storm | Severe Winter Storm |
| May 25, 2006 | DR-1642-MA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Nov 10, 2005 | DR-1614-MA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Sep 13, 2005 | EM-3252-MA | EM | Hurricane | Hurricane Katrina Evacuation |
| Feb 17, 2005 | EM-3201-MA | EM | Snowstorm | Record And/Or Near Record Snow |
| Apr 21, 2004 | DR-1512-MA | DR | Flood | Flooding |
| Jan 15, 2004 | EM-3191-MA | EM | Snowstorm | Snow |
| Mar 11, 2003 | EM-3175-MA | EM | Snowstorm | Snow |
| Apr 10, 2001 | DR-1364-MA | DR | Severe Storm | Severe Storms And Flooding |
| Mar 28, 2001 | EM-3165-MA | EM | Snowstorm | Snow |
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 Massachusetts'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.
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.