FEMA Records
22
Above median
Tennessee · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Cannon County, TN
22 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 22
- FEMA declarations
- 17
- Major disasters
- 23
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Cannon County. Its 22 FEMA declarations are 3% above the Tennessee county mean and exceed the count for 57% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 23%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 23%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 22
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 48
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 47015 · Cannon County 22 declarations · rank 1362/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 22
- MAJOR-MID 77%
- RANK-LOWER #1,362
- PHOTO-FINISH Hardy
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +3%
Nearest declaration peer: Hardy, WV (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Tennessee state profile
Cannon County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Cannon County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Cannon · this county 22
Cannon · this county
22 declarations
- Hardy · near 22
Hardy · near
22 declarations
- Prairie · near 22
Prairie · near
22 declarations
- St. Francis · near 22
St. Francis · near
22 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Cannon County carries 22 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1362 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Cannon County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Cannon County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Cannon County
22 Top 43% higher than 57% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Cannon County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Cannon County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $4.3M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Tornado carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Cannon County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county's FEMA National Risk Index composite lands at 22.9/100 (Very Low), a modest reading against the rest of the country. Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $7.1M in annualized losses), tempered or compounded by a Relatively Moderate social-vulnerability score and Relatively Low community-resilience score. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Tornado, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 5 years here, based on 12 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 48 claims and $1.4M paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Cannon County's 22 federal records stand 3% above the Tennessee county mean of 21.4. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
68 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Cannon County, TN · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) High
16/30
22 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
22 declarations (1.0x state county average of 21)
Major Disaster Share Very High
19/25
17 of 22 declarations are major disasters (77%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Cannon County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Cannon County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
77%
Mostly major
NRI risk score
23
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Cannon County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 323 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 18 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 5.6 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 5.9 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1 time per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 60 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 33 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Heat Wave | Very Low | 2.6 modeled event-days per year |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 3.6 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 9,605 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 11
Winter Storm 2
Tornado 2
Biological 2
Flood 2
Severe Ice Storm 1
Hurricane 1
Snowstorm 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Cannon County's record, 50% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 17 77.3%
of all 22 declarations
Emergency - 5 22.7%
of all 22 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |
| 2025 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 22 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 22 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4898 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Winter Storm | 2026-02-06 |
| 3635 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 3625 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Storm | 2025-04-02 |
| 4792 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2024-06-17 |
| 4701 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-04-07 |
| 4601 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 2021-05-08 |
| 4594 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-04-21 |
| 4514 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-02 |
| 3473 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 1909 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-05-04 |
| 1634 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-04-05 |
| 3217 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1464 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-05-08 |
| 1456 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-03-20 |
| 1408 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2002-04-05 |
| 1260 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-01-15 |
| 1197 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-01-13 |
| 1010 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM,FLASH FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-02-28 |
| 3095 | SEVERE SNOWFALL, WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-14 |
| 459 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-03-22 |
Show 2 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 424 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1974-04-04 |
| 366 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-03-21 |
Storm Events in Tennessee
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Cannon County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 6,558 | 22 | 58 | $107.0M |
| Hail | 1,690 | 0 | 0 | $545.5K |
| Heat | 1,343 | 9 | 15 | $0 |
| Flash Flood | 1,264 | 55 | 3 | $334.4M |
| Winter Weather | 1,088 | 5 | 0 | $261.0K |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
48
Total Paid
$1.4M
Avg Per Claim
$28.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 22.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$7.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Tornado Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Heat Wave Very Low
Hail Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Tornado
Tornado exposure is the most spatially concentrated in the model: total destruction along a narrow corridor with intact property either side. County-level averages therefore understate severity badly for anyone actually in the path, and overstate it for everyone else.
For Cannon County the two measures on this page point the same way: Tornado is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively Low), and Severe Storm declarations also lead its federal record. Where the model and the declaration history agree, the reading is comparatively straightforward, the hazard is both expected and repeatedly realised.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Cannon County's closest FEMA peer: Guam, GU
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Cannon County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Cannon County shows 22 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Cannon County: 17 of 22 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Cannon County: NRI composite 22.9 (Very Low).
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Cannon County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Cannon County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 22.9 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 22. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 22 FEMA declarations, Cannon County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Cannon County?
The most common disaster type in Cannon County is Severe Storm, with 11 declarations. Other disaster types include Winter Storm (2), Tornado (2), Biological (2).
How does Cannon County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Tennessee average?
FEMA lists 22 declaration records for Cannon County. That is 3% above the Tennessee county mean of 21.4. Its count is also 6% above the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Cannon County received?
Cannon County has received 17 major disaster declarations, representing 77% of all 22 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Cannon County filed?
Cannon County has 48 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.4M in payments, with an average of $28.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Cannon County?
No. In Cannon County, Tornado has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $4.3M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Cannon County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Cannon County was 2003, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Cannon County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Cannon County, Tennessee has an overall risk score of 22.9 out of 100 (Very Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $7.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Cannon County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Cannon County as of the latest release is Tornado (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Earthquake (Very Low) and Drought (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts tornado here at roughly once every 5 years, drawn from 12 historical events on record. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against exposed assets and community vulnerability.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Cannon County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Tennessee profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events