Hamilton County, Tennessee: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Hamilton County, Tennessee has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 93.3 out of 100, higher than about 93% of US counties, with tornadoes, strong winds and earthquakes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $140 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Hamilton County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4898-TN (Severe Winter Storm, declared 6 February 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 27 tornadoes touching Hamilton County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Tennessee All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 365,901 Buildings worth $76 billion Area 582 sq mi Risk rank in Tennessee 3 of 95 FIPS 47065
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Relatively High | 98.6 | $32 million | about once every 2.7 years | 27 |
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 97.5 | $4.6 million | about 4.7 a year | 177 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | 95.7 | $17 million | about once every 242 years | — |
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | 95.2 | $137,064 | about 1.2 a year | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively High | 94.9 | $75 million | about 1.9 a year | 54 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 94.8 | $1.9 million | about 61 a year | 445,291 strikes |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 93.8 | $594,190 | about 3.7 a year | 71 |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 85.8 | $651,508 | about once every 1.6 years | 42 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 84.5 | $5.0 million | about once every 1.9 years | 10 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 82.6 | $1.0 million | about 3.7 a year | 140 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 75.6 | $1.2 million | about 1.8 a year | 33 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 70.6 | $185,084 | about once every 826 years | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 62.5 | $275,950 | about once every 65 years | 4 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 36.6 | $50,005 | about 26 a year | 980 |
| 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 23
Most common: Severe Storm 11, Flood 5, Winter Storm 2, Fire 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Tornado, Flood |
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 5 | Severe Storm ×2, Flood ×2, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 3 | Severe Storm ×2, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 6 | Severe Storm ×3, Fire ×2, Flood |
| 2020s | 6 | Severe Storm ×4, Winter Storm ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Hamilton County
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, DR-4898-TN): 95 Tennessee counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3635-TN): 95 Tennessee counties designated.
- Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding (2025, EM-3625-TN): 95 Tennessee 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. Tennessee also had 1 statewide declaration with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 27
| Tornadoes touching the county | 27 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×3 |
| Peak month | April (17) |
| Deadliest | 15 Apr 1994, F3, 15 mi path, 1 killed, 9 injured |
| Longest path | 2 Mar 2012, EF3, 41 mi path, 0 killed, 44 injured |
| Most recent | 2 Mar 2023, EF0, 2.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 2 / 105 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 7 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 16 | 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 Hamilton County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 93.3 | Tornado |
| Bradley County | 28 km | Relatively Low | 73.4 | Earthquake |
| Sequatchie County | 31 km | Very Low | 40.2 | Cold wave |
| Catoosa County, GA | 31 km | Relatively Low | 64.6 | Tornado |
| Marion County | 42 km | Relatively Low | 58.2 | Strong wind |
| Whitfield County, GA | 45 km | Relatively Moderate | 81.5 | Tornado |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Tennessee, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 36.4 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 77.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.02 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $140 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 Hamilton County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Tennessee · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- 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 Hamilton County
What natural disasters is Hamilton County, Tennessee most at risk from?
Hamilton County, Tennessee has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 93.3 out of 100, higher than about 93% of US counties, with tornadoes, strong winds and earthquakes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $140 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Hamilton County had?
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Hamilton County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4898-TN (Severe Winter Storm, declared 6 February 2026). Another 1 Tennessee declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Hamilton County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 27 tornadoes touching Hamilton County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 15 Apr 1994, F3, 15 mi path, 1 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.