Tornado

Hazard in Severe Weather

A sudden, narrow-path wind hazard — minutes of warning, block-by-block destruction, and a damage swath that can cross a whole county.

Plans also call it: twister, funnel cloud, waterspout, landspout

Talk to us about TornadoAll 73 hazards →

What you’d hand your council

The first page of a Tornado evidence brief: likelihood, impact and readiness on your own scale, every figure sourced.

Evidence brief for Cedar Ridge County (example)

September 14, 2026

Tornado

Hazard in Severe Weather, on the established threats & hazards list

Impact
5432112345

Likelihood

Likelihood
3

Possible — Expected occasionally — roughly once in 10 to 50 years (2–10% chance in any year).

Impact
5

Catastrophic — Overwhelming effects — mass casualties possible, widespread destruction, essential services out for a month or more, long-term recovery requiring state and federal assistance.

Readiness
2

Low — Some elements of capability are in place, but important gaps remain that could significantly limit the organization's ability to perform effectively. Additional development is needed before the capability can be relied upon.

  • 2source documents
  • 58verified mentions
  • 2federal declarations
  • 91.6NRI score, relatively high
Worked example: Cedar Ridge County is fictional. The scores illustrate the format and are nobody's decision. Open a full sample brief →

The national record

FEMA National Risk Index: Tornado

$11.5B
expected loss a year, nationally
309
counties rated high or very high

Your county’s own rating is the first thing we pull.

How it maps

The same hazard in the vocabularies your plan and FEMA already use.

FEMA National Risk Index
Tornado (TRND)one of the 18 hazards NRI scores per county
FEMA declaration incident type
Tornado182 declarations on record
NOAA Storm Events type
Tornado, Funnel Cloud, Waterspout
Hazzard category
Severe Weather, natural hazards

The national record

What the federal data says about Tornado

The same national sources a Hazzard brief starts from. For your jurisdiction we narrow each one to your county and its neighbors.

Where Tornado is rated high

Share of each state's counties FEMA rates Relatively High or Very High

Alabama: 22 of 67 counties rated high (33%) · $427M expected loss a yearAlaska: 0 of 30 counties rated high (0%) · $1K expected loss a yearArizona: 0 of 15 counties rated high (0%) · $8M expected loss a yearArkansas: 10 of 75 counties rated high (13%) · $288M expected loss a yearCalifornia: 1 of 58 counties rated high (2%) · $54M expected loss a yearColorado: 9 of 64 counties rated high (14%) · $188M expected loss a yearConnecticut: 1 of 9 counties rated high (11%) · $23M expected loss a yearDelaware: 0 of 3 counties rated high (0%) · $11M expected loss a yearDistrict of Columbia: 1 of 1 counties rated high (100%) · $7M expected loss a yearFlorida: 23 of 67 counties rated high (34%) · $530M expected loss a yearGeorgia: 13 of 159 counties rated high (8%) · $433M expected loss a yearHawaii: 0 of 5 counties rated high (0%) · $752K expected loss a yearIdaho: 0 of 44 counties rated high (0%) · $3M expected loss a yearIllinois: 14 of 102 counties rated high (14%) · $876M expected loss a yearIndiana: 13 of 92 counties rated high (14%) · $422M expected loss a yearIowa: 8 of 99 counties rated high (8%) · $354M expected loss a yearKansas: 8 of 105 counties rated high (8%) · $342M expected loss a yearKentucky: 6 of 120 counties rated high (5%) · $333M expected loss a yearLouisiana: 10 of 64 counties rated high (16%) · $247M expected loss a yearMaine: 0 of 16 counties rated high (0%) · $5M expected loss a yearMaryland: 2 of 24 counties rated high (8%) · $54M expected loss a yearMassachusetts: 1 of 14 counties rated high (7%) · $40M expected loss a yearMichigan: 11 of 83 counties rated high (13%) · $474M expected loss a yearMinnesota: 5 of 87 counties rated high (6%) · $348M expected loss a yearMississippi: 11 of 82 counties rated high (13%) · $271M expected loss a yearMissouri: 9 of 115 counties rated high (8%) · $450M expected loss a yearMontana: 0 of 56 counties rated high (0%) · $4M expected loss a yearNebraska: 4 of 93 counties rated high (4%) · $259M expected loss a yearNevada: 0 of 17 counties rated high (0%) · $226K expected loss a yearNew Hampshire: 0 of 10 counties rated high (0%) · $17M expected loss a yearNew Jersey: 4 of 21 counties rated high (19%) · $83M expected loss a yearNew Mexico: 0 of 33 counties rated high (0%) · $8M expected loss a yearNew York: 3 of 62 counties rated high (5%) · $134M expected loss a yearNorth Carolina: 11 of 100 counties rated high (11%) · $342M expected loss a yearNorth Dakota: 0 of 53 counties rated high (0%) · $47M expected loss a yearOhio: 10 of 88 counties rated high (11%) · $366M expected loss a yearOklahoma: 17 of 77 counties rated high (22%) · $370M expected loss a yearOregon: 0 of 36 counties rated high (0%) · $6M expected loss a yearPennsylvania: 6 of 67 counties rated high (9%) · $153M expected loss a yearRhode Island: 0 of 5 counties rated high (0%) · $5M expected loss a yearSouth Carolina: 7 of 46 counties rated high (15%) · $202M expected loss a yearSouth Dakota: 2 of 66 counties rated high (3%) · $122M expected loss a yearTennessee: 12 of 95 counties rated high (13%) · $423M expected loss a yearTexas: 47 of 254 counties rated high (19%) · $2.4B expected loss a yearUtah: 0 of 29 counties rated high (0%) · $10M expected loss a yearVermont: 0 of 14 counties rated high (0%) · $4M expected loss a yearVirginia: 0 of 133 counties rated high (0%) · $85M expected loss a yearWashington: 0 of 39 counties rated high (0%) · $11M expected loss a yearWest Virginia: 0 of 55 counties rated high (0%) · $13M expected loss a yearWisconsin: 8 of 72 counties rated high (11%) · $308M expected loss a yearWyoming: 0 of 23 counties rated high (0%) · $15M expected loss a year
  • None
  • Up to 10%
  • 10–25%
  • 25–50%
  • Over 50%
  • Not rated
FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0, county table

182 federal declarations since 1953

Declarations FEMA filed as “Tornado”, by year (2026 to date)

010201953: 6 declarations1954: 1 declaration1955: 1 declaration1956: 2 declarations1957: 3 declarations1958: 1 declaration1960: 1 declaration1965: 7 declarations1966: 1 declaration1967: 2 declarations1968: 6 declarations1969: 2 declarations1970: 1 declaration1971: 3 declarations1973: 3 declarations1974: 10 declarations1975: 11 declarations1976: 2 declarations1977: 1 declaration1978: 6 declarations1979: 8 declarations1980: 5 declarations1982: 4 declarations1984: 10 declarations1985: 2 declarations1986: 3 declarations1987: 4 declarations1988: 3 declarations1989: 5 declarations1990: 1 declaration1991: 2 declarations1992: 8 declarations1993: 3 declarations1994: 2 declarations1995: 3 declarations1997: 1 declaration1998: 3 declarations1999: 5 declarations2000: 3 declarations2002: 3 declarations2003: 1 declaration2005: 2 declarations2009: 1 declaration2010: 2 declarations2011: 1 declaration2013: 2 declarations2014: 1 declaration2015: 1 declaration2016: 1 declaration2017: 4 declarations2018: 1 declaration2019: 2 declarations2020: 3 declarations2021: 6 declarations2022: 1 declaration2023: 1 declaration2024: 4 declarations1975: 111960197019801990200020102020
OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, as of 2026-09-27. Counts distinct disasters; major, emergency and fire-management declarations.

In your plan

What a Tornado profile needs, and where each part comes from

A local hazard mitigation plan profiles each hazard the same way (44 CFR 201.6). Here is how Hazzard fills each part for Tornado.

  1. Location

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    FEMA's National Risk Index rates Tornado for every county. We place yours against its neighbors and the state, then add what your plans map in more detail.

  2. Extent

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    Your documents

    The magnitude your plans use for Tornado (a scale, a depth, an acreage, a duration), read from your documents and cited, so the profile states the strength you plan for.

  3. Previous occurrences

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    Every FEMA declaration filed as Tornado that included your county, back to 1953, alongside the events your own records and after-action reports describe.

  4. Probability of future events

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(i)

    National data

    NRI's annualized frequency for your county, and the declaration history, drafted into a likelihood on your own scale for your team to accept or change.

  5. Vulnerability and impacts

    44 CFR 201.6(c)(2)(ii)

    National data

    NRI's expected annual loss and social vulnerability for your county, the Census population profile and HHS emPOWER counts, with the impacts your plans already describe.

  6. The assessment itself

    Your team decides

    Likelihood, impact and readiness for Tornado are drafted with every source attached, and a person on your team accepts each one. Hazzard never records a score on its own.

How we can help

How we’d help you prepare for Tornado

  1. 1

    We pull your county's record

    FEMA's National Risk Index rating and expected loss, every disaster declaration, and the daily temperature record behind heat and cold, before we meet.

  2. 2

    We read the plans you already have

    Your hazard mitigation plan and EOP annexes, so you can see what they say about Tornado and where the profile stops short.

  3. 3

    You leave with a cited brief

    Likelihood, impact and readiness for Tornado on your own scale, every figure tied to its source, ready for the planning team or the council.

Also in Severe Weather

Preparing for Tornado

Walk into your next plan update with Tornado already sourced.

Severe weather is the part of a plan everyone assumes is covered. We check whether yours says why, with your county's own record instead of a regional average. A person replies within one business day.

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