Hickory County, Missouri: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Hickory County, Missouri has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 23.5 out of 100, higher than about 23% of US counties, with ice storms, wildfires and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $5.5 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 21 federal disaster declarations that included Hickory County since 1976, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4929-MO (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, declared 3 August 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 15 tornadoes touching Hickory County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 8,271 Buildings worth $2.4 billion Area 416 sq mi Risk rank in Missouri 95 of 115 FIPS 29085
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 83.5 | $369,341 | about once every 1.4 years | 49 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 69.4 | $113,781 | about once every 319 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 57.0 | $344,933 | about 14 a year | 170 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 55.4 | $432,886 | about 4.8 a year | 182 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 52.7 | $118,346 | about 8.5 a year | 280 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 48.9 | $41,694 | about 12 a year | 223 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 46.5 | $744,853 | about once every 3.8 years | 13 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 43.1 | $135,760 | about 6.4 a year | 243 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 42.9 | $123,984 | about once every 578 years | — |
| Landslide | Very Low | 42.0 | $515 | about once every 3.9 years | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 38.3 | $418,798 | about 2.3 a year | 44 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 34.9 | $89,503 | about 53 a year | 52,409 strikes |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 32.4 | $2.5 million | about 2.4 a year | 66 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 19.6 | $3,814 | about once every 109 years | 0 |
| 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 21
Most common: Severe Storm 12, Severe Ice Storm 4, Flood 3, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Drought |
| 1990s | 1 | Flood |
| 2000s | 11 | Severe Storm ×6, Severe Ice Storm ×4, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 6 | Severe Storm ×4, Flood ×2 |
| 2020s | 2 | Severe Storm ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Hickory County
- Severe Winter Storm (2011, EM-3317-MO): 115 Missouri counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm (2009, EM-3303-MO): 115 Missouri counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storms (2007, EM-3281-MO): 115 Missouri 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. Missouri also had 4 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 15
| Tornadoes touching the county | 15 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×2 |
| Peak month | March (3) |
| Deadliest | 4 May 2003, F3, 86 mi path, 5 killed, 47 injured |
| Longest path | 4 May 2003, F3, 86 mi path, 5 killed, 47 injured |
| Most recent | 10 Jan 2020, EF1, 1.6 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 5 / 69 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 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 Hickory County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hickory County (this page) | — | Very Low | 23.5 | Ice storm |
| Polk County | 37 km | Relatively Low | 54.5 | Ice storm |
| Dallas County | 39 km | Very Low | 41.7 | Ice storm |
| Benton County | 40 km | Relatively Low | 66.8 | Strong wind |
| St. Clair County | 41 km | Very Low | 25.6 | Drought |
| Camden County | 50 km | Relatively Moderate | 88.4 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Missouri, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 81.7 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 5.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.54 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $5.5 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 Hickory County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Missouri · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- Heat wave: Heatstroke warning signs
- 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 Hickory County
What natural disasters is Hickory County, Missouri most at risk from?
Hickory County, Missouri has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 23.5 out of 100, higher than about 23% of US counties, with ice storms, wildfires and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $5.5 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Hickory County had?
OpenFEMA lists 21 federal disaster declarations that included Hickory County since 1976, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4929-MO (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding, declared 3 August 2026). Another 4 Missouri declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Hickory County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 15 tornadoes touching Hickory County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 4 May 2003, F3, 86 mi path, 5 killed, 47 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.