States › Indiana › Sullivan County

Sullivan County, Indiana

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 18153 · 20,758 residents (2021) · 447 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 46Tornado · 15Flood · 119Wind · 126Winter · 28

Sullivan County within Indiana. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 351 storm events in Sullivan County, Indiana, led by damaging wind.

That is 78.5 events per 100 square miles, below the Indiana figure of 120.7, and 169.1 per 10,000 residents against 63.5 statewide.

14 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 3 deaths and 9 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $38M and crop damage at $22M.

FEMA has designated the county in 19 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm (emergency, 24 Jan 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 1 claim since 1978, of which 1 were paid, totalling $42K (about $42K per paid claim). FEMA counts 4 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($7.9M a year across 18 hazards).

6 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

14events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

351events since 19503 deaths, 9 injuries recorded

19disaster declarationslast 24 Jan 2026

1NFIP flood claims$42K paid

Compared with Indiana and the United States

Measure	Sullivan County	Indiana	US
Recorded events since 1950	351	43,229	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	78.5	120.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	169.1	63.5	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	14	1,597	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	3	550	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$38M	$4.5B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.0	2.9	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$42K	$20K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	0.0	17.3	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 2Wind: 4

Tornado: 2Wind: 1

Tornado: 1Wind: 3

Hail: 4Tornado: 1Wind: 17

Hail: 1Tornado: 3Flood: 24Wind: 23Winter: 6Heat: 1Cold: 1Lightning: 1Fog: 1

Hail: 17Flood: 83Wind: 36Winter: 7Other: 1

Hail: 13Tornado: 2Flood: 7Wind: 24Winter: 8Drought: 6

Hail: 11Tornado: 4Flood: 5Wind: 18Winter: 7Heat: 2Cold: 2Drought: 2

61950s31960s41970s221980s611990s1442000s602010s512020s

Recorded events in Sullivan County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterHeatColdDroughtLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 173 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 138 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind126

Flood119

Hail46

Winter28

Tornado15

Drought8

Heat3

Cold3

Lightning1

Fog1

Other1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	126	—	0.7%	detail
■ Flood	119	—	2.0%	detail
■ Hail	46	—	0.6%	detail
■ Winter	28	—	0.5%	detail
■ Tornado	15	3	0.7%	detail
■ Drought	8	—	1.5%
■ Heat	3	—	0.5%
■ Cold	3	—	0.3%
■ Lightning	1	—	0.3%
■ Fog	1	—	0.2%
■ Other	1	—	0.3%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
31 Mar 2023	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$18M	—	3	8	County
2 Jun 2008	Flood	Flood	—	$15M	$15M	—	—	County
17 May 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$20K	—	—	1	County
8 Jul 2003	Flood	Flood	—	$500K	$7.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
22 Jan 1999	Flood	Flood	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
3 Jan 2005	Flood	Flood	—	$500K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
19 Feb 2026	Tornado	Tornado	EF0	$300K	—	—	—	County
29 Apr 1963	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	—	County
27 May 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
6 May 2002	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$150K	—	—	—	County
21 Jun 2026	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	93 mph	$125K	—	—	—	County
21 Jun 2026	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$120K	—	—	—	County
22 Jan 1999	Flood	Flood	—	$100K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
11 Mar 2006	Flood	Flood	—	$100K	—	—	—	County
5 Apr 2025	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$100K	—	—	—	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
24 Jan 2026	EM-3641	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
15 Apr 2023	DR-4704	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
3 Apr 2020	DR-4515	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3456	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
22 Apr 2014	DR-4173	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
23 Jun 2011	DR-1997	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And	Public assistance
8 Jun 2008	DR-1766	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Sep 2005	EM-3238	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
21 Jan 2005	DR-1573	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
11 Jan 2005	EM-3197	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snow	Public assistance
1 Sep 2004	DR-1542	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding	Public assistance
25 Sep 2002	DR-1433	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance
13 Jun 2002	DR-1418	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
22 Jul 1998	DR-1234	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes, And Flooding	Public assistance
3 Jul 1996	DR-1125	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
2 Apr 1996	DR-1109	Major disaster	Flood	Blizzard Of 96	Public assistance
5 Jan 1991	DR-891	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
31 Jul 1979	DR-596	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 Feb 1977	EM-3028	Emergency	Snowstorm	Snowstorms	Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Sullivan County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19781

Paid claims1

Total paid$42K

Average paid claim$42K

Repetitive-loss properties0

Residential policies in force40.0% of 9,402 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2013	1	1	$42,215	$42,215

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskVery Lowscore 20.6 of 100

Expected annual loss$7.9MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Low

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Very Low	$2,914,641
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$1,466,865
Tornado	Relatively Low	$1,230,541
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$695,836
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$595,819
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$349,775
Hail	Relatively Low	$240,985
Drought	Relatively Low	$238,950
Winter weather	Relatively Low	$75,404
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$49,043
Lightning	Very Low	$41,821
Hurricane	Very Low	$9,099
Landslide	Very Low	$2,249
Wildfire	Very Low	$1,080

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles6

Tracks within 50 miles1

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Helene	2024	81 mi	46 mph
Ike	2008	84 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1941	72 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	98 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	26 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1902	69 mi	40 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Sullivan County, IN?

NCEI records 46 hail events in Sullivan County since 1950, in 18 different years; that is about 0.6 recorded events a year. 9 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Sullivan County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 15 tornadoes in Sullivan County since 1950, 5 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 3.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Sullivan County?

24 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 19 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Sullivan County, and how much was paid?

1 NFIP claim since 1978, 1 of them paid, for $42K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Sullivan County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Very Low" for overall risk, "Very Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Sullivan County compare with the rest of Indiana?

78.5 recorded events per 100 square miles against 120.7 statewide, and 0.0 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 2.9. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 29 Sep 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 30 Sep 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.