McCreary County, Kentucky: Natural Disaster Risk and History
McCreary County, Kentucky has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 25.3 out of 100, higher than about 25% of US counties, with landslides, winter storms and wildfires scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $4.8 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 21 federal disaster declarations that included McCreary County since 1974, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4913-KY (Severe Winter Storm, declared 29 May 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 9 tornadoes touching McCreary County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Kentucky All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 16,846 Buildings worth $2.8 billion Area 435 sq mi Risk rank in Kentucky 94 of 120 FIPS 21147
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | 90.8 | $34,955 | about 1.5 a year | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 77.7 | $104,600 | about 12 a year | 232 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 74.2 | $138,019 | about once every 193 years | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 67.0 | $1.1 million | about once every 1.5 years | 13 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 60.0 | $257,967 | about once every 408 years | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 58.9 | $401,831 | about 5.6 a year | 212 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 55.9 | $163,663 | about 55 a year | 41,822 strikes |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 54.1 | $177,612 | about 3.1 a year | 119 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 48.5 | $35,627 | about once every 30 years | 9 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 48.2 | $659,266 | about once every 5.4 years | 10 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 44.3 | $160,157 | about 2.7 a year | 42 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 34.2 | $83 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 29.9 | $17,944 | about once every 3.6 years | 19 |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 24.3 | $1.6 million | about 1.2 a year | 33 |
| Drought | Very Low | 16.9 | $935 | about 9.5 a year | 329 |
| 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 21
Most common: Severe Storm 11, Snowstorm 3, Winter Storm 2, Fire 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Tornado |
| 1990s | 4 | Snowstorm ×3, Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 5 | Severe Storm ×2, Fire ×2, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 10 | Severe Storm ×7, Winter Storm ×2, Severe Ice Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included McCreary County
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3633-KY): 120 Kentucky counties designated.
- Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding (2025, EM-3626-KY): 120 Kentucky counties designated.
- Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, and Landslides (2025, EM-3624-KY): 120 Kentucky 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. Kentucky also had 4 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 9
| Tornadoes touching the county | 9 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×1 |
| Peak month | April (4) |
| Deadliest | 8 Apr 1980, F2, 11.2 mi path, 2 killed, 9 injured |
| Longest path | 12 Mar 1967, F3, 23.6 mi path, 0 killed, 5 injured |
| Most recent | 12 Mar 2020, EF1, 1.7 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 2 / 19 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 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 McCreary County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McCreary County (this page) | — | Very Low | 25.3 | Landslide |
| Whitley County | 30 km | Relatively Low | 62.2 | Landslide |
| Wayne County | 32 km | Relatively Low | 54.7 | Cold wave |
| Scott County, TN | 34 km | Very Low | 26.1 | Landslide |
| Pulaski County | 42 km | Relatively Low | 79.1 | Winter weather |
| Campbell County, TN | 48 km | Relatively Low | 58.0 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Kentucky, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 94.9 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 3.3 |
| Community risk factor | 1.84 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $4.8 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 McCreary County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Kentucky · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- 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 McCreary County
What natural disasters is McCreary County, Kentucky most at risk from?
McCreary County, Kentucky has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 25.3 out of 100, higher than about 25% of US counties, with landslides, winter storms and wildfires scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $4.8 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has McCreary County had?
OpenFEMA lists 21 federal disaster declarations that included McCreary County since 1974, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4913-KY (Severe Winter Storm, declared 29 May 2026). Another 4 Kentucky declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit McCreary County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 9 tornadoes touching McCreary County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 8 Apr 1980, F2, 11.2 mi path, 2 killed, 9 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.