Dearborn County, Indiana

What hazards hit Dearborn County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 156 since 1956. 41% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1956 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Indiana'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 Dearborn County had?

NOAA records 18 tornadoes in Dearborn County from 1974 to 2026, the strongest rated F4, with 0 deaths and 21 injuries recorded in the county. That is 28th of 91 Indiana 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 17 tornadoes whose track touched Dearborn County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 18: 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 Indiana.

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 Dearborn County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 17, 2026 tornado ($300,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

The first damage produced by the tornado occurred on Texas Gas Road, where a large tree was uprooted and other smaller trees were downed. Farther east along Cole Lane, an attached garage was destroyed and a large tree was downed onto a house. In addition, a roof was lifted from another garage and several trees were snapped at their trunks. The tornado strengthened and proceeded east near East Laughery Creek Road, where it completely destroyed a house and two outbuildings. Debris from these buildings was strewn east along the path of the tornado across a large field. Based on this damage, estimated wind speeds were around 130 mph in this area, and the damage also resulted in a Tornadic Debris Signature on the Wilmington, Ohio radar at this time. The tornado continued toward Alta Vista Ave, where a large number of hardwood trees were snapped. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1339290)

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 Dearborn 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: 69 records against 17 in the decade before, 69 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 Dearborn 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?

41% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1956 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 Dearborn County

FEMA's register lists 22 declarations that include Dearborn County: 17 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (10) 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 Dearborn County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 92 flood or flash flood records for Dearborn County from 1996 to 2026, on 67 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Dearborn County ranks 1245th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $2.0 million on 113 claims filed in Dearborn County; the most in one year was 28 in 1997. 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 Dearborn County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Dearborn County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $18.6 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 Dearborn County

1. Hamilton County, OH 1,159
2. Ripley County 801
3. Butler County, OH 801
4. Boone County, KY 558
5. Franklin County 474
6. Dearborn County 473
7. Ohio County 249

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 IndianaEvery Indiana tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in IndianaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Indiana recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Dearborn CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Dearborn County's FEMA declarations (CSV)22 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis