Perry County, Missouri: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Perry County, Missouri has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 46.2 out of 100, higher than about 46% of US counties, with strong winds, earthquakes and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $19 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 27 federal disaster declarations that included Perry County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4867-MO (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Wildfires, declared 21 May 2025). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 21 tornadoes touching Perry County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Missouri All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 18,942 Buildings worth $4.9 billion Area 489 sq mi Risk rank in Missouri 65 of 115 FIPS 29157
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 93.7 | $3.3 million | about 4.3 a year | 162 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 87.7 | $4.7 million | about once every 121 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 72.9 | $1.3 million | about 11 a year | 146 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 64.6 | $207,894 | about once every 1.3 years | 52 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 63.5 | $4,366 | about 1.3 a year | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 60.4 | $116,113 | about 7.7 a year | 146 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 58.3 | $2.1 million | about once every 2.5 years | 21 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 56.0 | $1.5 million | about 1.2 a year | 22 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 45.9 | $283,643 | about 4 a year | 152 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 36.7 | $62,078 | about 3.4 a year | 133 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 36.0 | $28,616 | about once every 49 years | 4 |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 32.1 | $4.7 million | about 2.5 a year | 70 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 30.8 | $141,908 | about 54 a year | 59,645 strikes |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 17.0 | $7,621 | 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 27
Most common: Severe Storm 18, Flood 6, Severe Ice Storm 2, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 3 | Severe Storm ×2, Flood |
| 2000s | 10 | Severe Storm ×7, Severe Ice Storm ×2, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 10 | Severe Storm ×6, Flood ×4 |
| 2020s | 2 | Severe Storm ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Perry 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 21
| Tornadoes touching the county | 21 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×3 |
| Peak month | April (6) |
| Deadliest | 22 Jun 1969, F3, 18.1 mi path, 0 killed, 6 injured |
| Longest path | 22 Sep 2006, F2, 25 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Most recent | 30 Apr 2022, EF0, 0.1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 10 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
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 Perry County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perry County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 46.2 | Strong wind |
| Cape Girardeau County | 38 km | Relatively Moderate | 85.7 | Earthquake |
| Randolph County, IL | 38 km | Relatively Low | 78.6 | Earthquake |
| Ste. Genevieve County | 39 km | Relatively Low | 54.6 | Heat wave |
| Jackson County, IL | 40 km | Relatively Moderate | 87.1 | Strong wind |
| Bollinger County | 46 km | Very Low | 26.3 | Earthquake |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Missouri, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 14.4 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 79.4 |
| Community risk factor | 0.82 |
| 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 Perry County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Missouri · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- 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 Perry County
What natural disasters is Perry County, Missouri most at risk from?
Perry County, Missouri has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 46.2 out of 100, higher than about 46% of US counties, with strong winds, earthquakes and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $19 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Perry County had?
OpenFEMA lists 27 federal disaster declarations that included Perry County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4867-MO (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Wildfires, declared 21 May 2025). Another 4 Missouri declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Perry County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 21 tornadoes touching Perry County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 22 Jun 1969, F3, 18.1 mi path, 0 killed, 6 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.