Buchanan County, Iowa

What hazards hit Buchanan County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 276 since 1960. 61% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Iowa's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Buchanan County had?

NOAA records 50 tornadoes in Buchanan County from 1950 to 2026, the strongest rated EF3, with 0 deaths and 9 injuries recorded in the county. That is 20th of 99 Iowa counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 49 tornadoes whose track touched Buchanan County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 50: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 2 people, 0 of them in Buchanan County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Iowa.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Buchanan County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the August 11, 2016 lightning ($615,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

The Emergency Manager reported that Lightning struck a barn on Henley Avenue about 2 miles northwest of Independence and caused it to burn down. There was also some loss of livestock during the fire.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 656663)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Buchanan County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

61% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Buchanan County

FEMA's register lists 25 declarations that include Buchanan County: 23 major disasters, 2 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for flood (11) and severe storm (11).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Buchanan County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 88 flood or flash flood records for Buchanan County from 1997 to 2025, on 61 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Buchanan County ranks 632nd of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $3.4 million on 375 claims filed in Buchanan County; the most in one year was 136 in 1999. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Buchanan County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Buchanan County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $13.1 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Buchanan County

1. Linn County 1,436
2. Black Hawk County 1,062
3. Benton County 989
4. Buchanan County 822
5. Clayton County 716
6. Delaware County 697
7. Fayette County 634
8. Bremer County 583

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in IowaEvery Iowa tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in IowaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Iowa recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Buchanan CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Buchanan County's FEMA declarations (CSV)25 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis