Cumberland County, Tennessee

What hazards hit Cumberland County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 139 since 1958. The rank column places the county among Tennessee'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 Cumberland County had?

NOAA records 24 tornadoes in Cumberland County from 1957 to 2025, the strongest rated F3, with 8 deaths and 73 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 24 tornadoes whose track touched Cumberland County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 24, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 8 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Tennessee.

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 Cumberland County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 20, 2025 tornado ($250,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

An EF-1 tornado touched down along Vandever Road near New Era, causing timber damage and minor structural damage to homes. As the tornado moved east-northeast, more substantial timber damage was noted along with two homes that had roof removal. The tornado continued to produce timber and powerline damage along Rhea Road until it lifted near the intersection of Rhea Road and Old State Highway 28. Damages are a rough estimate.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1247195)

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 Cumberland 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).

Winter storms in the 2010s: 61 records against 15 in the decade before, 61 of them forecast-zone records. Drought in the 2020-26: 19 records against 6 in the decade before, 19 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Cumberland County days with a record above.

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

What time of year?

Records by month in Cumberland County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Cumberland County

FEMA's register lists 26 declarations that include Cumberland County: 21 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (13) and flood (4).

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 Cumberland County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 47 flood or flash flood records for Cumberland County from 1996 to 2025, on 42 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Cumberland County ranks 2636th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $7,780 on 4 claims filed in Cumberland County; the most in one year was 2 in 2019. 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 Cumberland County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Cumberland County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $18.5 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 Cumberland County

1. Putnam County 640
2. Fentress County 506
3. Cumberland County 474
4. Roane County 443
5. Morgan County 385
6. White County 381
7. Rhea County 374
8. Bledsoe County 333
9. Van Buren County 200

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 TennesseeEvery Tennessee tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in TennesseeThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Tennessee recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Cumberland CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Cumberland County's FEMA declarations (CSV)26 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis