Natural hazards · Nashville

Nashville, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Nashville comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 2011. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Nashville?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Nashville to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes36%Inland flooding20%Heat waves18%Cold waves7%Strong wind7%Tornadoes6%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Nashville faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Earthquakes

36% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

20% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Heat waves

18% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 19% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Nashville flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Nashville, from FEMA’s records.

5paid claims since 2011

$142Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20112026

Biggest named events

Mid-spring storms: 2 claims, $18K
Late July Flooding: 1 claim, $41K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Nashville isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Washington County.

Disasters that hit Nashville

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Nashville itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Nashville.

Brought FEMA money into NashvilleDeclared for Washington County only

2024

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Floodng

60 households applied for aid $191K aid approved

2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

10 households applied for aid $34K aid approved

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

Washington County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and tornadoes.

Around Nashville

Nashville and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Covingtonmostly earthquakesHigh

Nashvillemostly earthquakesHigh

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Nashville is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Nashville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Nashville. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.