Tompkinsville’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Tompkinsville comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Tompkinsville’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Tompkinsville flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Tompkinsville. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Tompkinsville isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Monroe County.How exposed is Tompkinsville?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.
Calmer than 354 of the 553 Kentucky towns we cover.
Tompkinsville is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Tompkinsville faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Tornadoes
Cold waves
Hail
Strong wind
Earthquakes
4 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Tompkinsville
Disasters that paid out in Tompkinsville itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Tompkinsville) and its biggest flood years.
- 2025Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides$336K to the City of Tompkinsville for repairs
- 2020Severe Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides$17K to the City of Tompkinsville for repairs
- 2010Severe Storms, Flooding, Mudslides, and Tornadoes53 households applied for aid$178K aid approved$7K to the City of Tompkinsville for repairs
- 2008Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and44 households applied for aid$87K aid approved
Monroe County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.
Old photos of Tompkinsville after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Tompkinsville archive →Get ready for what Tompkinsville actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Let faucets drip so pipes don’t freeze.
- Know where your water shutoff is.
- Never heat the house with the oven or a grill.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in January–March
The month each of Monroe County’s 17 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Tompkinsville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Tompkinsville.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Tompkinsville.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.