Whitley County, Kentucky: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Whitley County, Kentucky has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 62.2 out of 100, higher than about 62% of US counties, with landslides, wildfires and winter storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $18 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 36 federal disaster declarations that included Whitley 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 5 tornadoes touching Whitley County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Kentucky All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 36,626 Buildings worth $7.3 billion Area 450 sq mi Risk rank in Kentucky 31 of 120 FIPS 21235
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 Low | 85.7 | $26,030 | about 1.3 a year | — |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 85.1 | $554,606 | about once every 82 years | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 85.1 | $219,414 | about 13 a year | 238 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 74.7 | $2.1 million | about once every 1.4 years | 14 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 71.1 | $11 million | about 3 a year | 84 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 70.3 | $440,694 | about 3.2 a year | 122 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 69.9 | $619,783 | about once every 403 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 65.3 | $586,597 | about 2.6 a year | 42 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 64.0 | $1.6 million | about once every 6.7 years | 5 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 58.6 | $556,000 | about 5.6 a year | 215 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 58.3 | $248,730 | about 54 a year | 87,985 strikes |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 44.7 | $35,158 | about once every 43 years | 8 |
| Avalanche | Very Low | 39.3 | $199 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 27.7 | $22,245 | about once every 7.4 years | 10 |
| Drought | Very Low | 23.3 | $6,814 | about 1 a year | 294 |
| 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 36
Most common: Severe Storm 17, Flood 9, Snowstorm 3, Winter Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Flood ×2, Tornado |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood, Severe Storm |
| 1990s | 5 | Snowstorm ×3, Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2000s | 8 | Severe Storm ×5, Fire ×2, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 4 | Flood ×3, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 14 | Severe Storm ×8, Flood ×3, Winter Storm ×2, Severe Ice Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Whitley 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 5
| Tornadoes touching the county | 5 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×2 |
| Peak month | March (2) |
| Deadliest | 12 Mar 1967, F3, 23.6 mi path, 0 killed, 5 injured |
| Longest path | 12 Mar 1967, F3, 23.6 mi path, 0 killed, 5 injured |
| Most recent | 4 Apr 2011, EF1, 1.7 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 5 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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 Whitley County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitley County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 62.2 | Landslide |
| Knox County | 30 km | Relatively Low | 74.7 | Cold wave |
| McCreary County | 30 km | Very Low | 25.3 | Landslide |
| Laurel County | 39 km | Relatively Low | 71.7 | Winter weather |
| Campbell County, TN | 39 km | Relatively Low | 58.0 | Landslide |
| Bell County | 42 km | Relatively Low | 68.0 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Kentucky, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 69.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 48.0 |
| Community risk factor | 1.32 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $18 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 Whitley County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Kentucky · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- 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 Whitley County
What natural disasters is Whitley County, Kentucky most at risk from?
Whitley County, Kentucky has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 62.2 out of 100, higher than about 62% of US counties, with landslides, wildfires and winter storms scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $18 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Whitley County had?
OpenFEMA lists 36 federal disaster declarations that included Whitley 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 Whitley County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Whitley County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 12 Mar 1967, F3, 23.6 mi path, 0 killed, 5 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.