Natural hazards · Butler

Butler, TN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Butler comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Butler?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Butler to be higher than in 61% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding59%Cold waves23%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Butler faces

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

Inland flooding

59% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Butler flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Johnson County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Butler

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ButlerDeclared for Johnson County only

2024

Tropical Storm Helene

497 households applied for aid $1.8M aid approved

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Associated Flooding

43 households applied for aid $62K aid approved

Johnson County has had 16 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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