States › Nebraska › Furnas County

Furnas County, Nebraska

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

FIPS 31065 · 4,604 residents (2021) · 719 sq mi · dominant hazard Hail

Hail · 321Tornado · 30Flood · 13Wind · 230Winter · 120

Furnas County within Nebraska. 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 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

The NCEI record lists 807 events for Furnas County, Nebraska, between 1950 and 2026; hail account for the largest share.

That is 112.2 events per 100 square miles, above the Nebraska figure of 83.3, and 1,752.8 per 10,000 residents against 325.9 statewide.

2 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 1 death and 0 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $22M and crop damage at $146M.

FEMA has designated the county in 16 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Road 702 Fire (fire management assistance, 23 Apr 2022).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 3 claims since 1978, of which 1 were paid, totalling $4K (about $4K per paid claim). FEMA counts 3 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($14M a year across 18 hazards).

2events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

807events since 19501 death, 0 injuries recorded

16disaster declarationslast 23 Apr 2022

3NFIP flood claims$4K paid

Compared with Nebraska and the United States

Measure	Furnas County	Nebraska	US
Recorded events since 1950	807	64,002	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	112.2	83.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	1,752.8	325.9	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	2	1,590	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	1	182	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$22M	$5.1B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.7	3.1	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$4K	$22K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	66.7	23.8	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

Hail: 3Tornado: 7

Hail: 6Tornado: 2Wind: 3

Hail: 9Tornado: 4Wind: 9

Hail: 14Tornado: 4Wind: 12

Hail: 26Tornado: 3Flood: 2Wind: 15Winter: 17Cold: 6Lightning: 1

Hail: 90Tornado: 5Flood: 5Wind: 45Winter: 28Cold: 3Drought: 2Lightning: 1Other: 2

Hail: 113Tornado: 2Flood: 6Wind: 94Winter: 47Heat: 1Cold: 1Drought: 25Wildfire: 1Lightning: 1Other: 14

Hail: 60Tornado: 3Wind: 52Winter: 28Heat: 1Cold: 4Drought: 26Wildfire: 2Other: 2

101950s111960s221970s301980s701990s1812000s3052010s1782020s

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

Trend: 553 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 191 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

Hail321

Wind230

Winter120

Drought53

Tornado30

Other18

Cold14

Flood13

Wildfire3

Lightning3

Heat2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Hail	321	—	1.3%	detail
■ Wind	230	—	1.3%	detail
■ Winter	120	—	1.5%	detail
■ Drought	53	—	1.5%
■ Tornado	30	1	0.9%	detail
■ Other	18	—	1.6%
■ Cold	14	—	0.6%
■ Flood	13	—	0.6%	detail
■ Wildfire	3	—	3.4%
■ Lightning	3	—	1.5%
■ Heat	2	—	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
22 Jun 1969	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25K	—	1	—	County
1 Dec 2002	Drought	Drought	—	—	$20M	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Sep 2000	Drought	Drought	—	—	$10M	—	—	Forecast zone
29 Jun 2023	Hail	Hail	3.00 in	$1.0M	$5.0M	—	—	County
29 Jun 2023	Hail	Hail	2.75 in	$1.0M	$5.0M	—	—	County
29 Jun 2023	Hail	Hail	1.75 in	$1.0M	$5.0M	—	—	County
29 Jun 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	70 mph	$1.0M	$5.0M	—	—	County
1 Oct 2012	Drought	Drought	—	—	$5.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Nov 2013	Drought	Drought	—	—	$5.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
14 Jun 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	81 mph	$1.0M	$3.0M	—	—	County
30 Jun 2018	Hail	Hail	1.75 in	$750K	$3.0M	—	—	County
22 Jul 2023	Hail	Hail	2.00 in	$250K	$3.0M	—	—	County
29 Jun 2000	Hail	Hail	1.00 in	$200K	$3.0M	—	—	County
22 Aug 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	71 mph	$150K	$3.0M	—	—	County
29 Jun 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	63 mph	$100K	$3.0M	—	—	County
29 Jun 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	70 mph	$100K	$3.0M	—	—	County
26 Jul 2018	Hail	Hail	1.50 in	$100K	$3.0M	—	—	County
26 Jul 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	64 mph	$100K	$3.0M	—	—	County
29 Jun 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	70 mph	$1.0M	$2.0M	—	—	County
6 Sep 2007	Hail	Hail	2.75 in	$500K	$2.0M	—	—	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
23 Apr 2022	FM-5436	Fire management assistance	Fire	Road 702 Fire	Public assistance
4 Apr 2020	DR-4521	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3483	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
21 Mar 2019	DR-4420	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Winter Storm, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Public assistance
26 Jun 2017	DR-4321	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Straight-Line Winds	Public assistance
24 Jul 2014	DR-4183	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Public assistance
12 Aug 2011	DR-4014	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight Line Winds, And Flooding	Public assistance
25 Feb 2010	DR-1878	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm	Public assistance
20 Jun 2008	DR-1770	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Public assistance
7 Jan 2007	DR-1674	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms	Public assistance
26 Jan 2006	DR-1627	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
13 Sep 2005	EM-3245	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuees	Public assistance
1 Nov 1997	DR-1190	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Snow Storms, Rain, And Strong Winds	Public assistance
9 May 1994	DR-1027	Major disaster	Snowstorm	Severe Snow And Ice Storm	Public assistance
19 Jul 1993	DR-998	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Jul 1967	DR-228	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, 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 Furnas County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19783

Paid claims1

Total paid$4K

Average paid claim$4K

Repetitive-loss properties0

Residential policies in force30.1% of 3,352 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2019	2	1	$4,118	$4,118
1979	1	0	$0	—

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 riskRelatively Lowscore 51.9 of 100

Expected annual loss$14MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Hail	Relatively High	$5,848,627
Strong wind	Relatively High	$2,586,725
Drought	Relatively High	$2,143,659
Inland flooding	Very Low	$1,808,675
Tornado	Relatively Low	$602,171
Cold wave	Very Low	$209,599
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$85,843
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$85,314
Heat wave	Very Low	$64,393
Lightning	Very Low	$57,860
Earthquake	Very Low	$9,041
Wildfire	Very Low	$5,963
Landslide	Very Low	$47

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

No HURDAT2 track at tropical-storm strength passes within 100 miles of the county's centre point (through the 2025 season).

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Furnas County, NE?

NCEI records 321 hail events in Furnas County since 1950, in 56 different years; that is about 4.2 recorded events a year. 82 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Furnas County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 30 tornadoes in Furnas County since 1950, 5 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 1.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Furnas County?

23 Apr 2022: Road 702 Fire, a fire management assistance declaration for fire. The county appears in 16 declarations since 1953.

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

3 NFIP claims since 1978, 1 of them paid, for $4K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Furnas County compare with the rest of Nebraska?

112.2 recorded events per 100 square miles against 83.3 statewide, and 0.7 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 3.1. 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 1 Oct 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 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.