Natural hazards · Cottontown

Cottontown, TN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cottontown comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cottontown?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cottontown to be higher than in 59% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding48%Tornadoes20%Cold waves14%Earthquakes6%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Cottontown faces

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

Inland flooding

48% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 56 years in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Cottontown flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sumner County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Cottontown

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CottontownDeclared for Sumner County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

16 households applied for aid $19K aid approved

2023

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

1 household applied for aid $5K aid approved

2021

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

3 households applied for aid

2010

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

57 households applied for aid $191K aid approved

Sumner County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and tornadoes.

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