Hocking County, Ohio

What hazards hit Hocking County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 164 since 1974. 52% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1974 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Ohio'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 Hocking County had?

NOAA records 6 tornadoes in Hocking County from 1968 to 2024, the strongest rated EF2, with 0 deaths and 0 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 7 tornadoes whose track touched Hocking County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 6: 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 Ohio.

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 Hocking County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the July 1, 2025 flash flood (1 death).

Hocking Hills State Park reported that a tree fell onto a hiker in Conkles Hollow State Nature Preserve. The cause was estimated to be hillside instability due to several days of moderate to heavy rainfall.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1267746)

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

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 Hocking 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: 60 records against 16 in the decade before, 60 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 Hocking 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?

52% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1974 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 Hocking County

FEMA's register lists 18 declarations that include Hocking County: 14 major disasters, 4 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (10) and flood (3).

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 Hocking County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 120 flood or flash flood records for Hocking County from 1996 to 2026, on 77 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Hocking County ranks 1065th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $2.2 million on 157 claims filed in Hocking County; the most in one year was 30 in 2004. 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 Hocking County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Hocking County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $14.1 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 Hocking County

1. Fairfield County 671
2. Athens County 638
3. Ross County 590
4. Perry County 551
5. Pickaway County 508
6. Hocking County 457
7. Vinton County 430

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