Wilson County, Tennessee: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Wilson County, Tennessee has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 80.0 out of 100, higher than about 80% of US counties, with cold waves, winter storms and earthquakes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $60 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 15 federal disaster declarations that included Wilson County since 1974, 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 45 tornadoes touching Wilson County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 147,693 Buildings worth $31 billion Area 589 sq mi Risk rank in Tennessee 15 of 95 FIPS 47189
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 89.1 | $9.2 million | about 1.2 a year | 22 |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 88.9 | $544,711 | about 5.6 a year | 107 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 88.8 | $6.3 million | about once every 350 years | — |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 85.8 | $7.9 million | about once every 2.2 years | 38 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 82.1 | $31 million | about 2.6 a year | 73 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 82.0 | $1.4 million | about 3.4 a year | 129 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 80.9 | $629,452 | about once every 1.5 years | 46 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 74.7 | $846,553 | about 59 a year | 174,400 strikes |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 70.5 | $1.4 million | about 6.1 a year | 233 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 62.0 | $905,963 | about 4.5 a year | 74 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 38.5 | $39,265 | about once every 43 years | 8 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 37.3 | $31,259 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 31.2 | $41,318 | about 1 a year | 462 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 29.5 | $427 | about once every 2.6 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 15
Most common: Severe Storm 7, Tornado 4, Winter Storm 2, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Severe Storm, Tornado |
| 1990s | 3 | Severe Storm ×2, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 2 | Hurricane, Severe Storm |
| 2010s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 7 | Tornado ×3, Winter Storm ×2, Severe Storm ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Wilson 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 45
| Tornadoes touching the county | 45 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×4 |
| Peak month | April (12) |
| Deadliest | 3 Mar 2020, EF3, 60.1 mi path, 5 killed, 220 injured |
| Longest path | 3 Mar 2020, EF3, 60.1 mi path, 5 killed, 220 injured |
| Most recent | 3 Apr 2025, EF1, 11.5 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 6 / 294 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 15 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 8 |
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 Wilson County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilson County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 80.0 | Cold wave |
| Trousdale County | 29 km | Very Low | 6.1 | Earthquake |
| Smith County | 32 km | Very Low | 18.8 | Landslide |
| Rutherford County | 36 km | Relatively Moderate | 91.7 | Cold wave |
| Sumner County | 38 km | Relatively Moderate | 87.7 | Tornado |
| Davidson County | 44 km | Relatively High | 97.2 | Earthquake |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Tennessee, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 10.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 60.6 |
| Community risk factor | 0.73 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $60 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 Wilson County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Tennessee · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- 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 Wilson County
What natural disasters is Wilson County, Tennessee most at risk from?
Wilson County, Tennessee has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 80.0 out of 100, higher than about 80% of US counties, with cold waves, winter storms and earthquakes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $60 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Wilson County had?
OpenFEMA lists 15 federal disaster declarations that included Wilson County since 1974, 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 Wilson County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 45 tornadoes touching Wilson County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 3 Mar 2020, EF3, 60.1 mi path, 5 killed, 220 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.