Natural hazards · Tennessee

Tennessee, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Tennessee comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Tennessee?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Tennessee to be higher than in 34% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves25%Inland flooding18%Heat waves15%Drought13%Strong wind10%Tornadoes9%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Tennessee faces

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

Cold waves

25% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

18% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 40% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Heat waves

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Drought

13% of expected damage

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Tennessee flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Tennessee.

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: McDonough County.

Disasters that hit Tennessee

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into TennesseeDeclared for McDonough County only

2013

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $2K aid approved

McDonough County has had 9 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often winter storms and severe storms.

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. Tennessee 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 Tennessee’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Tennessee. 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.