Lauderdale County, Tennessee

What hazards hit Lauderdale County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 137 since 1965. 45% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1965 fell in April and May. 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 Lauderdale County had?

NOAA records 27 tornadoes in Lauderdale County from 1950 to 2025, the strongest rated F3, with 9 deaths and 25 injuries recorded in the county. That is 26th of 95 Tennessee 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 28 tornadoes whose track touched Lauderdale County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 27: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 10 people, 9 of them in Lauderdale County.

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 Lauderdale County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 28, 2026 thunderstorm wind ($2,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

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 Lauderdale 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?

45% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1965 fell in April and May. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Lauderdale County

FEMA's register lists 24 declarations that include Lauderdale County: 20 major disasters, 4 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 Lauderdale County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 23 flood or flash flood records for Lauderdale County from 1996 to 2018, on 22 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Lauderdale County ranks 709th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $4.6 million on 323 claims filed in Lauderdale County; the most in one year was 58 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 Lauderdale County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Lauderdale County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $20.3 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 Lauderdale County

1. Mississippi County, AR 758
2. Tipton County 582
3. Dyer County 490
4. Lauderdale County 463
5. Crockett County 393
6. Haywood County 392

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 Lauderdale CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Lauderdale County's FEMA declarations (CSV)24 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis