Shannon County, Missouri

What hazards hit Shannon County most?

The most frequent records are floods and flash floods: 157 since 1996. 42% of its floods and flash floods since 1996 fell in March and April. The rank column places the county among Missouri'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 Shannon County had?

NOAA records 23 tornadoes in Shannon County from 1968 to 2026, the strongest rated EF3, with 4 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 19 tornadoes whose track touched Shannon 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 4 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Missouri.

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 Shannon County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 21, 2026 tornado ($20,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

A NWS ground survey along with public reports determined that an EF0 tornado with a 200 yard wide path initially touched down in a wooded area at the end of County Road H-522 to the southeast of Eminence. The tornado damaged a barn then both broke and uprooted trees as it crossed Highway H and along Highway NN to the Rocky Falls Shut In area off County Road NN-526.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1334722)

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 Shannon 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 floods and flash floods since 1996 fell in March and April. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Shannon County

FEMA's register lists 27 declarations that include Shannon County: 20 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (17) 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 Shannon County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 157 flood or flash flood records for Shannon County from 1996 to 2026, on 95 days, with 2 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Shannon County ranks 2128th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $158,000 on 18 claims filed in Shannon County; the most in one year was 6 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 Shannon County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Shannon County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $12.1 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 Shannon County

1. Howell County 1,070
2. Texas County 745
3. Carter County 744
4. Shannon County 587
5. Dent County 497
6. Oregon County 436
7. Reynolds County 297

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 MissouriEvery Missouri tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Floods in MissouriThe state's floods and flash floods, by county, year and month
• The Missouri recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Shannon CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Shannon County's FEMA declarations (CSV)27 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis