Orange County, Indiana

What hazards hit Orange County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 122 since 1969. 43% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1969 fell in May and June. 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 Orange County had?

NOAA records 23 tornadoes in Orange County from 1954 to 2025, the strongest rated F4, with 0 deaths and 1 injury 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 22 tornadoes whose track touched Orange County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 23: 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 Orange County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 1, 2017 tornado (1 injury and $90,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

This is an extension of the Lawrence County EF-2 tornado that briefly crossed into Orange County before lifting. The tornado produced EF-1 level damage in Orange County, destroying two mobile homes. One mobile home rolled over onto a new vehicle where three occupants were unhurt. The car ended up inside the living room of the mobile home. The other mobile home took a direct hit, taking the roof off and blowing the walls out of half of the home. An occupant of the home was blown into the field with home debris, while leaving living room furniture in place. The resident received only minor injuries.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 675724)

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 Orange 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: 18 records against 6 in the decade before, 18 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 Orange 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?

43% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1969 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 Orange County

FEMA's register lists 19 declarations that include Orange County: 14 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (10) 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 Orange County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 43 flood or flash flood records for Orange County from 1996 to 2026, on 37 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Orange County ranks 1245th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $1.3 million on 113 claims filed in Orange County; the most in one year was 19 in 2008. 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 Orange County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Orange County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $11.4 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 Orange County

1. Dubois County 553
2. Lawrence County 428
3. Crawford County 405
4. Washington County 368
5. Orange County 298
6. Martin County 244

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 Orange CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Orange County's FEMA declarations (CSV)19 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis