Knox County, Indiana: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Knox County, Indiana has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 55.3 out of 100, higher than about 55% of US counties, with earthquakes, drought and winter storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $19 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 16 federal disaster declarations that included Knox County since 1979, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3651-IN (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, declared 15 August 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 19 tornadoes touching Knox County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 36,280 Buildings worth $11 billion Area 529 sq mi Risk rank in Indiana 30 of 92 FIPS 18083
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | 90.5 | $5.8 million | about once every 157 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 80.9 | $1.0 million | about 2.9 a year | 77 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 72.2 | $146,518 | about 7.3 a year | 138 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 69.6 | $501,860 | about 52 a year | 139,103 strikes |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 66.8 | $4,498 | about once every 3.9 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 62.5 | $667,249 | about 6.2 a year | 92 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 61.0 | $1.9 million | about once every 2.9 years | 22 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 55.2 | $110,263 | about once every 2.5 years | 27 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 53.4 | $7.5 million | about 5.2 a year | 146 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 53.4 | $623,450 | about 4.2 a year | 160 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 51.4 | $283,547 | about 3 a year | 113 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 26.4 | $10,951 | about once every 156 years | 2 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 25.1 | $336,185 | about 1.3 a year | 25 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 8.2 | $2,651 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 16
Most common: Severe Storm 9, Flood 4, Winter Storm 1, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 5 | Severe Storm ×3, Flood ×2 |
| 2000s | 7 | Severe Storm ×5, Hurricane, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 2 | Flood, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Knox County
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3641-IN): 92 Indiana counties designated.
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3238-IN): 92 Indiana counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storms and Flooding (2005, DR-1573-IN): 87 Indiana counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Indiana also had 3 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 19
| Tornadoes touching the county | 19 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | April (6) |
| Deadliest | 20 Sep 2002, F2, 13.5 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured |
| Longest path | 30 Apr 1962, F2, 26.2 mi path |
| Most recent | 26 May 2024, EF2, 12.1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 4 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 7 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Knox County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knox County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 55.3 | Earthquake |
| Lawrence County, IL | 27 km | Relatively Low | 49.2 | Drought |
| Daviess County | 30 km | Relatively Low | 58.8 | Earthquake |
| Pike County | 36 km | Very Low | 19.2 | Earthquake |
| Gibson County | 44 km | Relatively Low | 48.0 | Drought |
| Sullivan County | 44 km | Very Low | 20.6 | Earthquake |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Indiana, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 37.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 84.4 |
| Community risk factor | 1.02 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $19 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Knox County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Indiana · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Drought: Drought monitor for Indiana
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Knox County
What natural disasters is Knox County, Indiana most at risk from?
Knox County, Indiana has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 55.3 out of 100, higher than about 55% of US counties, with earthquakes, drought and winter storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $19 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Knox County had?
OpenFEMA lists 16 federal disaster declarations that included Knox County since 1979, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3651-IN (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, declared 15 August 2026). Another 3 Indiana declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Knox County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 19 tornadoes touching Knox County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 20 Sep 2002, F2, 13.5 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.