Laurel County, Kentucky

What hazards hit Laurel County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 343 since 1964. 42% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1964 fell in May and June. The rank column places the county among Kentucky'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 Laurel County had?

NOAA records 19 tornadoes in Laurel County from 1954 to 2025, the strongest rated EF4, with 23 deaths and 98 injuries recorded in the county. That is 41st of 118 Kentucky 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 20 tornadoes whose track touched Laurel County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 19: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 31 people, 23 of them in Laurel County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Kentucky.

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 Laurel County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 16, 2026 thunderstorm wind ($1,000 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 Laurel 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?

42% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1964 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Laurel County

FEMA's register lists 28 declarations that include Laurel County: 20 major disasters, 6 emergencies and 2 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (13) and snowstorm (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 Laurel County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 82 flood or flash flood records for Laurel County from 1996 to 2024, on 57 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Laurel County ranks 2291st of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $1.1 million on 12 claims filed in Laurel County; the most in one year was 5 in 2021. 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 Laurel County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Laurel County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $23.9 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 Laurel County

1. Pulaski County 900
2. Laurel County 720
3. Whitley County 595
4. Clay County 439
5. Rockcastle County 437
6. Jackson County 430
7. McCreary County 410
8. Knox County 398

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 KentuckyEvery Kentucky tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in KentuckyThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Kentucky recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Laurel CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Laurel County's FEMA declarations (CSV)28 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis