Burt County, Nebraska

What hazards hit Burt County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 136 since 1959. 46% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1959 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Nebraska'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 Burt County had?

NOAA records 22 tornadoes in Burt County from 1950 to 2024, the strongest rated F4, with 0 deaths and 37 injuries recorded in the county. 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 23 tornadoes whose track touched Burt County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 22: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Nebraska.

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 Burt County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 12, 2023 tornado (2 injuries).

This tornado started around 620 PM near Burt County Road H, a little over 2 miles west of US Highway 77. The tornado started moving north northeast and then curved back to due north. As it moved north it gained strength and started destroying outbuildings and trees at various farmsteads, reaching EF-2 strength. By the time the tornado reached Burt County Road K, it became nearly 5/8 of a mile wide. Nearly a half mile span of double-wide wooden electrical transmission poles were snapped north of County Road L. The tornado, which was wrapped in rain, continued trekking to the north, damaging farmstead after farmstead, as well as uprooting and snapping trees. The tornado eventually weakened at 644 PM, 3 miles west of Lyons. Two people were injured by the tornado. One had a tree fall on a shed with the person inside, injuring his head. The other had cuts to the face from flying glass.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1097236)

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 Burt 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?

46% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1959 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 Burt County

FEMA's register lists 20 declarations that include Burt County: 17 major disasters, 3 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (9) and flood (6).

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 Burt County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 20 flood or flash flood records for Burt County from 1997 to 2024, on 19 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Burt County ranks 1540th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $1.7 million on 63 claims filed in Burt County; the most in one year was 32 in 2011. 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 Burt County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Burt County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $8.7 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 Burt County

1. Dodge County 834
2. Washington County 699
3. Harrison County, IA 698
4. Monona County, IA 516
5. Cuming County 512
6. Burt County 492
7. Thurston County 433

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 NebraskaEvery Nebraska tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in NebraskaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Nebraska recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Burt CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Burt County's FEMA declarations (CSV)20 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis