ALBANY – New York State is vulnerable to a terrorist attack or natural disaster even four years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, according to a state Senate report released yesterday.

Of particular concern are uneven security measures at the Port of New York and the lack of an emergency response plan to a hurricane striking Long Island or New York City, a state senator, Michael Balboni, the author of the report, said.

“Our findings show that a storm cloud is brewing over New York state, exposing major vulnerabilities in our homeland security and emergency response systems,” Mr. Balboni, a Long Island Republican, said in the report. “While New York has made tremendous strides in protecting our citizens since September 11, 2001, major weaknesses still exist.”

While noting the state’s actions on several fronts to improve security, the report concluded that much needs to be done to make the state more secure.

A public hearing in March found that no uniform system exists for verifying identities of those entering American port facilities and the percentage of cargo being checked remains low, even as a vehicle- and cargo-inspection system using gamma ray imaging to check parcels has been set up at major ports around the country. New York is the third busiest American port, taking in more than 6,000 containers a day.

Officials fear that one of those containers could hold a “dirty bomb” that could contaminate the New York area with radiation, or house a deadly biological agent to be unleashed in the densely populated area.

“We agree that port security is an area that needs to be addressed immediately,” a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Steve Coleman, said. One of the major shortcomings, he noted, was a lack of federal funding. Since September 11, 2001, the authority has received less than $10 million in federal security money while spending more than $60 million of its own funds, he said.