Scott County, Indiana

What hazards hit Scott County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 88 since 1969. 48% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1969 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 Scott County had?

NOAA records 17 tornadoes in Scott County from 1961 to 2026, the strongest rated F5, with 2 deaths and 63 injuries recorded in the county. That is 4th of 91 Indiana counties and 113th of 3,080 U.S. 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 15 tornadoes whose track touched Scott County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 17: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 22 people, 2 of them in Scott County.

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 Scott County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 1, 2017 thunderstorm wind (8 injuries and $241,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

A 1-2 mile swath of strong straight-line winds estimated at 60-80 mph moved across southern Scott County, downing trees and power lines and causing mainly minor roof damage. An EF-1 tornado was embedded within this area just east of Interstate 65. Between this area and another to the northeast of Austin, the Scott Emergency Manager reported that at least 15 homes were severely damaged, including those damaged by the tornado. Within the county, the winds and tornado resulted in approximately 23 minor injuries. There were numerous trees and power lines down which resulted in the closure of seven roadways across the county.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 686763)

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 Scott 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 Scott 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?

48% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1969 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 Scott County

FEMA's register lists 17 declarations that include Scott County: 13 major disasters, 4 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (8) 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 Scott County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 23 flood or flash flood records for Scott County from 1996 to 2026, on 19 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Scott County ranks 2291st of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $210,000 on 12 claims filed in Scott County; the most in one year was 3 in 1993. 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 Scott County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Scott County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $8.8 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 Scott County

1. Clark County 535
2. Jackson County 452
3. Washington County 368
4. Jefferson County 350
5. Jennings County 238
6. Scott County 196

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 Scott CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Scott County's FEMA declarations (CSV)17 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis