Natural hazards · Sewanee

Sewanee, TN natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sewanee comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sewanee?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sewanee to be higher than in 32% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding34%Cold waves26%Tornadoes23%Earthquakes6%Strong wind5%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Sewanee faces

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

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 39% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

26% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

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

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Sewanee flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Franklin County.

Disasters that hit Sewanee

Federal disasters declared here

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

Brought FEMA money into SewaneeDeclared for Franklin County only

Franklin County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and winter storms.

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