Natural hazards · Central

Central, TN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Central comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1999.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Central?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Central to be higher than in 44% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding64%Strong wind11%Earthquakes9%Tornadoes6%Cold waves6%Everything else5%

By hazard

What Central faces

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

Inland flooding

64% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 50% of U.S. places

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Central flood?

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

3paid claims since 1999

$57Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19992026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Helene: 1 claim, $45K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Carter County.

Disasters that hit Central

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Carter County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Central itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into CentralDeclared for Carter County only

Carter County has had 14 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Central

Central and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elizabethtonmostly inland floodingModerate

Centralmostly inland floodingModerate

Johnson Citymostly inland floodingVery low

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. Central covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Central total about $499K a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.