Watauga County, North Carolina: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Watauga County, North Carolina has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 71.9 out of 100, higher than about 71% of US counties, with landslides, ice storms and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $26 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 22 federal disaster declarations that included Watauga County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3637-NC (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 4 tornadoes touching Watauga County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for North Carolina All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 54,000 Buildings worth $16 billion Area 317 sq mi Risk rank in North Carolina 51 of 100 FIPS 37189
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 High | 98.8 | $1.0 million | about once a year | — |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 82.1 | $416,169 | about once every 1.3 years | 54 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 81.9 | $3.5 million | about 4.9 a year | 93 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 80.3 | $17 million | about 3.1 a year | 86 |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 76.2 | $629,857 | about 24 a year | 854 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 68.9 | $634,194 | about once every 658 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 63.3 | $324,333 | about 49 a year | 82,015 strikes |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 61.9 | $213,673 | about once every 32 years | 8 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 60.1 | $1.5 million | about once every 11 years | 3 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 55.8 | $67,162 | about 21 a year | 395 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 45.5 | $409,784 | about 2.7 a year | 104 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 40.9 | $23,936 | about once every 962 years | — |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 36.7 | $134,852 | about 4.2 a year | 159 |
| Heat wave | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 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 22
Most common: Hurricane 9, Flood 5, Snowstorm 3, Tropical Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1980s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 1990s | 5 | Snowstorm ×3, Severe Storm, Flood |
| 2000s | 3 | Hurricane ×3 |
| 2010s | 5 | Hurricane ×2, Flood ×2, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 6 | Hurricane ×3, Tropical Storm ×2, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Watauga County
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3637-NC): 100 North Carolina counties designated.
- Hurricane Helene (2024, EM-3617-NC): 100 North Carolina counties designated.
- Hurricane Ian (2022, EM-3586-NC): 100 North Carolina counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Tropical Storm Helene (2024), Hurricane Helene (2024), Hurricane Ian (2022), Tropical Storm Fred (2021), Hurricane Isaias (2020), Hurricane Dorian (2019), Hurricane Florence (2018), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Ivan (2004), Tropical Storm Frances (2004), Hurricane Hugo (1989).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. North Carolina also had 9 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 4
| Tornadoes touching the county | 4 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F1 ×3 |
| Peak month | April (1) |
| Deadliest | 20 Apr 1996, F1, 0.1 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured |
| Longest path | 14 Aug 2023, EF1, 3 mi path |
| Most recent | 25 Sep 2024, EF1, 0.6 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 2 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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 Watauga County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watauga County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 71.9 | Landslide |
| Avery County | 27 km | Relatively Low | 47.5 | Landslide |
| Johnson County, TN | 29 km | Very Low | 28.2 | Landslide |
| Ashe County | 29 km | Relatively Low | 66.8 | Landslide |
| Caldwell County | 34 km | Relatively Low | 67.4 | Landslide |
| Carter County, TN | 39 km | Relatively Low | 63.2 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in North Carolina, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 61.5 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 68.4 |
| Community risk factor | 1.22 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $26 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 Watauga County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for North Carolina · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- 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 Watauga County
What natural disasters is Watauga County, North Carolina most at risk from?
Watauga County, North Carolina has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 71.9 out of 100, higher than about 71% of US counties, with landslides, ice storms and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $26 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Watauga County had?
OpenFEMA lists 22 federal disaster declarations that included Watauga County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3637-NC (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). Another 9 North Carolina declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Watauga County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 4 tornadoes touching Watauga County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 20 Apr 1996, F1, 0.1 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.