Natural hazards · Powell

Powell, TN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Powell comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 30 claims here since 1994. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Powell?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Powell to be higher than in 30% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding50%Tornadoes18%Earthquakes13%Cold waves9%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Powell faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Earthquakes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Powell flood?

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

30paid claims since 1994

$318Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19942026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Knox County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

4flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Powell

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PowellDeclared for Knox County only

2011

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

12 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

28 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

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

Around Powell

Powell and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Powellmostly inland floodingLow

Knoxvillemostly inland floodingLow

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. Powell covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Powell’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Powell. 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 Powell total about $2.6M 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.