New Hampshire outages are more about snow, ice, and flood-driven restoration constraints than hurricane shelter logic.
New Hampshire outage planning belongs to the ice-storm, heavy-snow, and flood-recovery pattern in a small Northeast state where rural restoration access still matters outside the biggest population centers.
Ice Storm, Snow, and Rural Restoration Profile
New Hampshire's hurricane score is high, but the state aligns much more clearly with a winter-plus-flood outage case. FEMA's top modeled hazards are ice storm and river flooding, while NOAA's outage-relevant record is led by thunderstorm wind, heavy snow, flood, and winter storm events. That is a restoration-and-continuity problem, not a coastal shelter script.
The county-level medical signal is also present but narrower than in larger Northeast states. HHS emPOWER counts 10,147 electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries statewide, and Hillsborough is the only county that clears the public BPI threshold. That means planning should stay grounded: winter support first, flood recovery second, and no exaggerated claim that New Hampshire has the same dense county overlap as Massachusetts or Pennsylvania.
FEMA DR-4740 covers New Hampshire severe storms and flooding from July 2023.
Source: FEMA DR-4740Evidence trail
These notes trace the editorial claims above back to FEMA, DOE, utility, or other cited records.
FEMA declaration count (14) from OpenFEMA API, deduplicated by disaster number, DR/EM/FM types, 2014-2023.
NRI composite score (78.8) from FEMA NRI county layer, population-weighted to state level; top modeled hazards are Ice Storm, Riverine Flooding, and Hurricane.
NOAA outage-relevant event mix is led by Thunderstorm Wind (1,637), Heavy Snow (992), Flood (442), and Winter Storm (373), with Grafton, Carroll, and Hillsborough leading county counts.
HHS emPOWER counts 10,147 electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries statewide; Hillsborough is the only county qualifying in the public BPI layer.
New Hampshire Severe Storms and Flooding DR-4740 from FEMA disaster declaration records.
Structured FEMA NRI, HHS emPOWER, NOAA Storm Events, and EIA methodology is documented separately on the methodology page.
NRI's top modeled hazard is Ice Storm, NOAA's outage-relevant record is led by Thunderstorm Wind, Heavy Snow, Flood, and Winter Storm, and the strict public BPI layer flags Hillsborough but not a broad statewide county cluster..
NOAA storm-event records filtered to outage-relevant event types for New Hampshire. Counts reflect historical storm-event assignments, not confirmed utility outages.
Analysis window
2005-01 to 2024-12
Included storm-event records
4,066
Source as of
2026-03
Included exact NOAA event types for New Hampshire: Thunderstorm Wind, Tornado, High Wind, Strong Wind, Flash Flood, Flood, Hurricane (Typhoon), Tropical Storm, Tropical Depression, Storm Surge/Tide, Winter Storm, Ice Storm, Freezing Rain, Heavy Snow, Blizzard.
In this filtered NOAA record set for New Hampshire, Jul has the highest monthly count (850 records) , and Thunderstorm Wind is the leading event type. This chart shows frequency in NOAA records, not how severe a specific outage may be.
70.3% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
47.0% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
55.4% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
47.0% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
77.8% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
48.9% of listed records were matched directly to this county.
With the current New Hampshire NWS county crosswalk, mapped forecast zones are effectively 1:1 with counties, and no unresolved forecast zones were present in this state contract.
Direct county match
58.9%
Mapped from forecast zone
41.1%
Not assigned to county ranking
0.0%
Unresolved forecast zones
0
County-level HHS emPOWER counts for electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries in New Hampshire.
10,147 Medicare beneficiaries in New Hampshire have claims associated with electricity-dependent medical equipment. (HHS emPOWER, 2026-03)
County-level HHS emPOWER records for this state. Medicare enrollment data only. 10 counties are included in this state snapshot.
Counties with higher concentrations may face elevated community-level demand for backup power during outages. This does not indicate individual medical necessity.
Limitations: Reflects Medicare beneficiaries with claims associated with electricity-dependent medical equipment. Does not capture non-Medicare or uninsured populations. HHS masks cells from 1 to 10 as 11.
The GeneratorChecker Backup Priority Index is a county shortlist for backup planning, combining historically frequent outage-relevant storm activity with larger county counts of electricity-dependent Medicare beneficiaries. It is planning context, not a forecast or an outage guarantee.
BPI version
v1.0
Analysis window
2005-01 to 2024-12
Matched counties
10
Counties qualify for the public BPI only when both signals land at or above the 80th percentile within the state. The shortlist excludes low-base medical counties and counties with less than 30% direct NOAA county matching.
Qualifying counties shown on the page: 1.
Percentiles are computed within New Hampshire only and are not comparable across states.
1. HILLSBOROUGH
County FIPS 33011
At-risk Medicare count
2,443
Storm-event records
471
Direct NOAA county match
55.4%
Start with winter support and medical continuity, then add refrigeration for the longer events that follow snow, ice, or flood damage.
Keep heating-system support, communications, and medical essentials online during a snow or ice outage.
Load
1189W
Target
24h
Minimum
46,900 Wh
This assumes your home uses a fuel-fired heating system that still depends on blower power. It does not imply a portable power station can replace electric space heating.
Size this scenario in calculatorAdd refrigeration for a longer event where snow, ice, or flood cleanup delays restoration beyond the first day.
Load
1396W
Target
48h
Minimum
110,100 Wh
This is the more realistic New Hampshire case when road access and local restoration take longer than the first weather event.
Size this scenario in calculatorCritical Note: No single portable power station in our database covers the full 24-hour baseline at this load (46,900 Wh target vs. 6,144 Wh max in our current database). Use solar recharge, load rotation, or expandable systems for longer events.
Letting a high modeled hurricane score pull planning back toward a coastal-storm assumption.
Ignoring heavy snow and ice because flood is the most recent FEMA anchor in the public record.
Treating New Hampshire like suburban Boston instead of accounting for rural restoration constraints outside the main population centers.
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Composite score: 78.8 / 100
Rating: Relatively Moderate
Top modeled hazards: Ice Storm, Riverine Flooding, Hurricane
Hurricane score: 84.3
Winter Weather score: 74.6
Wildfire score: 45.3
Total (2014-2023): 14
Most recent: 2023-09-14 Flood
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| Severe Storm | 7 |
| Biological | 2 |
| Flood | 2 |
| Coastal Storm | 1 |
| Fire | 1 |
| Snowstorm | 1 |
Required Wh = (Total Load W × Target Hours / Inverter Derate) × Safety Factor
Inverter derate: 0.70 (30% real-world loss)
Safety factor: 1.15
Rounding: Up to nearest 100 Wh
New Hampshire has an NRI composite risk score of 78.8 (Relatively Moderate), with 14 federal declarations from 2014 to 2023. NRI's top modeled hazard is Ice Storm, NOAA's outage-relevant record is led by Thunderstorm Wind, Heavy Snow, Flood, and Winter Storm, and the strict public BPI layer flags Hillsborough but not a broad statewide county cluster..
For the primary scenario on this page (24-hour heating-support essential), the estimated minimum is 46,900 Wh for a 24-hour target. Refine this in the calculator with your actual devices.
NRI is a modeled risk index based on hazard exposure, vulnerability, and expected loss. FEMA declarations reflect federally declared incidents. They answer different questions — use both signals together for planning.
Designing around a hurricane-tail scenario instead of the snow, ice, and flood events households actually see more often. See the common mistakes section above for more state-specific pitfalls.
