Sevier County, Tennessee

What hazards hit Sevier County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 264 since 1957. 43% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1957 fell in June and July. 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 Sevier County had?

NOAA records 3 tornadoes in Sevier County from 2011 to 2013, the strongest rated EF1, 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 3 tornadoes whose track touched Sevier County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 3, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

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 Sevier County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the July 12, 2022 flash flood ($252,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Flash flooding in Greenbriar Campground with multiple people stranded. About 20 parked vehicles washed downstream. Downstream from the Campground, Emerts Cove Road flooded, with bridges inundated and dwellings taking water. Evacuations took place along Pittman Center Road. Upstream from the Campground, significant damage occurred to Greenbriar Road in the National Park.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1049085)

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 Sevier 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).

High wind and dust storms in the 2010s: 78 records against 24 in the decade before, 78 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 Sevier 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 1957 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 Sevier County

FEMA's register lists 23 declarations that include Sevier County: 15 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 3 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (7) 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 Sevier County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 77 flood or flash flood records for Sevier County from 1996 to 2026, on 54 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Sevier County ranks 669th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $4.1 million on 350 claims filed in Sevier County; the most in one year was 72 in 1994. 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 Sevier County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Sevier County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $32.1 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 Sevier County

1. Knox County 867
2. Sevier County 787
3. Blount County 714
4. Haywood County, NC 581
5. Swain County, NC 489
6. Cocke County 453
7. Jefferson County 376

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 Sevier CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Sevier County's FEMA declarations (CSV)23 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis