Hazard Plain
Automated baseline from FEMA and NOAA data, release 2026-10.

Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT

Risk-assessment baseline packet. Planning region FIPS 09130. Release 2026-10, data as of 2026-09-30.

Summary

Plan status as of 2026-09-30: No county-level plan row in FEMA data.

Highest expected annual loss (FEMA National Risk Index, modeled total; see B1-a): Inland Flooding ($48,534,866 a year), Hurricane ($6,572,098) and Coastal Flooding ($2,560,876).

The packet's tables are organized by the items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, Element B (B1-a to B2-c); the summaries below follow the same order.

Download the packet

Full packet as a web page. File manifest (checksums, source versions).

Plan clock

No county-level plan row in FEMA data

What changed since your last plan

Connecticut planning regions have no county-level plan in FEMA data; see each town's plan dates in the region.

Plan status for every jurisdiction listed in this planning region

20 jurisdictions. Each row is that jurisdiction's own plan clock. Notes include other approved plans FEMA lists for the same jurisdiction.

JurisdictionTypeStatusPlanApprovedExpiresDays to expirynegative = days since expiryUpdate underwayNotes
Fenwick boroughBoroughApproved, expires 2031-01-25Town of Old Saybrook and Borough of Fenwick Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (FEMA plan 110205)2026-01-262031-01-251,578
Middletown cityCityExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Chester townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Clinton townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Cromwell townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Deep River townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Durham townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
East Haddam townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
East Hampton townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Essex townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Haddam townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Killingworth townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Lyme townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Middlefield townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Old Lyme townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Old Saybrook townTownApproved, expires 2031-01-25Town of Old Saybrook and Borough of Fenwick Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan (FEMA plan 110205)2026-01-262031-01-251,578
Portland townTownExpired on 2026-09-072021 Lower Connecticut River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 107275)2021-09-082026-09-07-23FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Westbrook townTownExpired on 2025-08-11Town of Westbrook Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 106332)2020-08-122025-08-11-415FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions
Southeastern Connecticut Council of GovernmentsOtherApproved, expires 2028-09-26Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Update (FEMA plan 109036)2023-09-272028-09-26727this jurisdiction approved 2025-06-11
Three Rivers CommunityCollege/UniversityExpired on 2022-06-01Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (FEMA plan 102570)2017-06-022022-06-01-1,582

State plan status and tribal plans in this state: see the state page.

What the packet contains

Sections in FEMA checklist order; each heading names the review item its tables support. Full tables are in the downloads above.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-a Hazard identification

16 of the 18 National Risk Index hazards apply here.

Not applicable to this county per NRI, with no federal declaration and no Storm Events record since 1996: avalanche and volcanic activity. That is the evidence for leaving them out of the plan.

Highest expected annual loss (NRI, modeled): Inland Flooding, Hurricane and Coastal Flooding.

Not covered by NRI (local data needed): dam failure (incl. upstream dams); levee failure; flash flood as its own subtype; ice jams; debris flows; erosion (riverine and coastal); land subsidence and sinkholes; expansive soils.

The state hazard mitigation plan also lists hazards for this county; FEMA asks the plan to explain any hazard it leaves out.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-b Hazard location

  • Coastal Flooding and Inland Flooding: the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is the required location source for flooding. See the FEMA Flood Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov) for this county.
  • Cold Wave, Drought, Hail, Heat Wave, Ice Storm, Lightning, Strong Wind and Winter Weather: affects the whole county; national data give no location within it.
  • Earthquake, Hurricane, Landslide, Tornado, Tsunami and Wildfire vary within the county; the packet lists the highest-rated census tracts for each.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-c Hazard extent

Storm Events records for 13 of the 20 NOAA event-type groups mapped to the 18 hazards, with the scale, observed range and worst recorded event for each; the others say which local data are needed.

Worst recorded tornado, hail and thunderstorm wind (the three event types on record since the 1950s; the packet has every group):

  • Hail: 2.75 in hail, 1995-06-20; same size also recorded on 1969-05-29
  • Thunderstorm Wind: 96 kt (110 mph) estimated gust, Thunderstorm Wind, 2010-07-21
  • Tornado: F3 tornado, 1951-08-21, 33 yd wide, $250,000 property; crops not recorded (1951 dollars), 8 direct injuries

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-d Previous occurrences

Federal declarations for this area: 58 declarations covering 24 separate hazard incidents counted in this packet; each with type, dates and county Public Assistance dollars.

Connecticut planning regions have no county-level plan in FEMA data; see each town's plan dates in the region.

2 statewide declarations listed separately.

Hazards with no Storm Events record and no federal declaration are stated as such (6 of 18).

Storm Events history: 803 records (notable ones in the PDF, all of them in the Excel file).

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-e Probability of future events

FEMA annualized frequency (modeled) for each hazard, with a descriptor from a scale defined in the packet.

  • Highly likely: Coastal Flooding, Hail, Lightning, Strong Wind and Winter Weather
  • Likely: Cold Wave, Heat Wave, Hurricane, Ice Storm, Inland Flooding, Landslide and Tornado
  • Possible: Drought

Historical frequency by intensity band (tornado, hail, wind): 9 bands from Storm Events.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-f Hazards that vary across jurisdictions

Range of census tract risk scores within the area for 16 of the 18 hazards (44 tracts; rated tracts only).

18 jurisdictions: plan clock, repeat-flood count, Public Assistance dollars and event records naming the place (starting figures from federal data).

Supports FEMA checklist items B2-a and B2-b Vulnerability and potential impacts

The packet's table gives county-level starting figures; the plan describes impacts for each jurisdiction and its own assets.

Connecticut planning regions have no county-level plan in FEMA data; see each town's plan dates in the region.

Local data needed

To gather:

  • Critical facilities and lifelines per hazard
  • A problem statement per jurisdiction per hazard
  • Changes in development in hazard-prone areas since the last approval, or a statement of none (E1-a)
  • Future assets

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-a Vulnerability (county context)

Population 174,152; building value $40,080,990,112 and agriculture value $77,166,348 (total, not at risk).

National Risk Index rating Relatively Moderate; social vulnerability Very Low; community resilience Very High.

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-c Repetitive loss properties

Repetitive-loss properties, FMA definition (44 CFR 77.2): 24 repetitive loss, 30 severe repetitive loss. NFIP insurance definition: 303 and 23.

Mitigated 4; insured 135; NFIP data as of 2026-08-02. Counts by occupancy group and for each jurisdiction are in the packet.

Releases

Each release is dated; this is release 2026-10. It was first published 2026-09-30; its files do not change. Later releases will be listed here with what changed between them. All releases.

Cite this

Hazard Plain (2026). Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT: risk-assessment baseline packet, release 2026-10 (data as of 2026-09-30; Planning region FIPS 09130). Automated baseline. https://hazardplain.org/ct/09130/ Built from FEMA OpenFEMA, the FEMA National Risk Index and NOAA NCEI Storm Events; source versions in the packet's Sources list.

Source citations for the plan's bibliography (8)

How this packet is built: methods and sources