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Missouri

The recorded hazard history of every county in Missouri: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.

Missouri has 73,339 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 115 counties, led by damaging wind: 106.7 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 1,009 deaths and 12,794 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $12B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are St. Louis city, Greene and Jackson.

FEMA lists 88 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding (1 Sep 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 51,304 flood claims since 1978, $984M paid; 10,574 residential policies are in force.

1,920events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

73,339events since 1950106.7 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

88disaster declarations since 1953last 1 Sep 2026

51,304NFIP flood claims$984M paid

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. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Compared with the United States

Measure	Missouri	US
Recorded events since 1950	73,339	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	106.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	118.9	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	1,009	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$12B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	8.3	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$23K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	10,574	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Wind21,755

Hail20,443

Flood10,821

Winter6,559

Heat3,763

Tornado3,118

Drought2,482

Cold1,676

Other1,267

Fog1,070

Lightning280

Wildfire103

Tropical2

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Wind	21,755	3.1%	49
■ Hail	20,443	4.8%	—
■ Flood	10,821	5.9%	159
■ Winter	6,559	2.3%	58
■ Heat	3,763	6.7%	272
■ Tornado	3,118	3.8%	429
■ Drought	2,482	2.9%	—
■ Cold	1,676	3.1%	8
■ Other	1,267	2.8%	2
■ Fog	1,070	5.8%	6
■ Lightning	280	1.5%	26
■ Wildfire	103	1.1%	—
■ Tropical	2	0.0%	—

Events by decade

Hail: 131Tornado: 252Wind: 253

Hail: 455Tornado: 350Wind: 558

Hail: 574Tornado: 282Wind: 1030

Hail: 1157Tornado: 286Wind: 1360

Hail: 2829Tornado: 280Flood: 1271Wind: 2527Winter: 751Heat: 238Cold: 70Drought: 108Wildfire: 8Lightning: 24Fog: 46Other: 15

Hail: 7423Tornado: 675Flood: 3594Wind: 5705Winter: 2333Tropical: 2Heat: 1382Cold: 550Drought: 356Wildfire: 24Lightning: 127Fog: 204Other: 237

Hail: 5280Tornado: 596Flood: 3696Wind: 6035Winter: 2049Heat: 1532Cold: 385Drought: 1086Wildfire: 42Lightning: 107Fog: 493Other: 755

Hail: 2594Tornado: 397Flood: 2260Wind: 4287Winter: 1426Heat: 611Cold: 671Drought: 932Wildfire: 29Lightning: 22Fog: 327Other: 260

6361950s1,3631960s1,8861970s2,8031980s8,1671990s22,6122000s22,0562010s13,8162020s

Recorded events in Missouri by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Counties by events per 100 square miles

County	Events	Last 12 mo	Per 100 sq mi	Per 10k residents	Dominant	Tornadoes	Hail	Declarations	NFIP claims	NRI risk
St. Louis city	286	9	463.3	9.8	Wind	8	102	25	739	Relatively High
Greene County	2,307	97	341.6	76.7	Wind	60	676	27	206	Relatively Moderate
Jackson County	1,806	44	298.7	25.2	Wind	50	669	26	2,115	Relatively High
St. Louis County	1,459	24	287.3	14.6	Hail	58	660	34	12,031	Relatively High
Clay County	1,119	13	281.4	43.8	Hail	36	463	25	799	Relatively Moderate
Scott County	963	30	229.3	254.5	Wind	49	103	31	484	Relatively Low
Cape Girardeau County	1,210	34	209.2	147.4	Wind	49	146	29	1,074	Relatively Moderate
Platte County	847	13	201.8	78.0	Hail	19	321	26	368	Relatively Low
Jasper County	1,283	55	200.9	104.2	Wind	54	341	23	175	Relatively Moderate
Christian County	1,110	43	197.3	121.3	Wind	47	319	22	78	Relatively Low
St. Charles County	995	30	177.5	24.3	Wind	43	345	28	9,999	Relatively Moderate
Mississippi County	715	24	173.7	570.3	Wind	28	51	25	212	Relatively Low
Stone County	797	9	171.8	252.6	Hail	32	274	24	75	Relatively Low
Newton County	1,055	20	168.9	177.7	Hail	54	345	29	215	Relatively Low
Webster County	999	32	168.6	251.4	Wind	42	249	33	13	Relatively Low
Buchanan County	673	13	164.9	80.3	Wind	26	178	28	623	Relatively Low
Perry County	752	20	158.5	397.4	Wind	27	57	29	259	Relatively Low
Polk County	987	34	155.3	308.0	Hail	38	306	25	10	Relatively Low
Barry County	1,167	36	150.0	336.2	Hail	51	351	29	53	Relatively Low
Butler County	1,035	35	149.0	245.8	Wind	48	145	23	517	Relatively Moderate
Carter County	744	25	146.6	1,398.5	Wind	22	95	22	123	Relatively Low
Lawrence County	897	41	146.6	234.1	Hail	30	279	20	34	Relatively Low
McDonald County	779	34	144.4	333.1	Flood	24	207	26	386	Relatively Low
Boone County	977	19	142.5	52.6	Hail	36	372	27	195	Relatively Moderate
Taney County	859	14	135.9	152.3	Wind	22	232	23	400	Relatively Moderate
Bollinger County	822	25	133.0	778.7	Wind	30	112	28	116	Very Low
Douglas County	1,076	37	132.2	917.1	Flood	42	241	25	0	Very Low
Cass County	898	13	128.9	81.9	Hail	41	382	22	328	Relatively Low
Wright County	860	20	126.1	462.1	Flood	31	208	25	8	Relatively Low
Ripley County	793	33	126.0	746.9	Wind	24	113	24	244	Relatively Low
Dunklin County	678	46	125.1	244.6	Wind	39	149	22	58	Relatively Low
Barton County	730	19	123.3	626.2	Hail	40	222	24	17	Relatively Low
Pulaski County	673	10	123.0	125.1	Hail	19	217	25	267	Relatively Low
Jefferson County	805	8	122.6	35.3	Hail	44	312	30	4,592	Relatively Moderate
Cole County	469	10	119.8	60.7	Hail	12	147	26	416	Relatively Low
Hickory County	477	9	119.6	554.2	Hail	16	132	23	5	Very Low
Dallas County	624	29	115.4	359.8	Wind	19	151	25	3	Very Low
Howell County	1,070	36	115.4	267.7	Flood	50	294	25	75	Relatively Low
Camden County	753	18	114.8	173.4	Hail	26	272	28	92	Relatively Moderate
Grundy County	499	36	114.6	513.4	Hail	19	186	22	4	Very Low
New Madrid County	772	21	114.4	481.4	Wind	39	70	28	202	Relatively Low
Dade County	549	15	112.0	722.5	Wind	29	163	25	0	Very Low
Stoddard County	922	29	112.0	323.7	Wind	48	111	26	102	Relatively Low
Wayne County	850	19	112.0	778.8	Wind	26	118	28	141	Relatively Low
Ozark County	820	19	110.1	933.7	Flood	36	188	27	6	Very Low
Morgan County	655	23	109.6	306.4	Hail	31	196	28	15	Relatively Low
St. Francois County	494	24	109.3	73.1	Wind	27	135	21	94	Relatively Low
Cedar County	510	17	107.5	351.8	Hail	19	163	23	0	Very Low
Clinton County	448	11	106.9	210.5	Hail	26	161	22	7	Relatively Low
Laclede County	800	19	104.6	221.4	Hail	28	244	23	26	Relatively Low
Clark County	509	11	100.9	755.6	Wind	17	103	27	106	Very Low
Pemiscot County	497	40	100.9	326.2	Wind	40	82	26	127	Relatively Low
Phelps County	678	20	100.9	150.9	Hail	35	203	25	305	Relatively Low
Johnson County	820	27	98.9	151.4	Hail	34	292	21	44	Relatively Low
Miller County	586	22	98.9	235.3	Hail	29	172	30	28	Relatively Low
Marion County	428	7	98.0	150.1	Wind	12	111	25	535	Relatively Low
Warren County	413	10	96.4	113.1	Wind	15	111	17	102	Relatively Low
Cooper County	544	3	96.3	317.8	Flood	19	148	24	9	Very Low
Scotland County	418	3	95.8	890.7	Winter	14	104	24	0	Very Low
Franklin County	882	23	95.6	83.8	Wind	35	301	24	1,097	Relatively Moderate
Benton County	672	29	95.5	337.6	Wind	31	181	21	38	Relatively Low
Vernon County	760	15	92.0	387.9	Hail	33	254	26	12	Relatively Low
Lafayette County	563	10	89.6	171.6	Wind	29	157	25	18	Relatively Low
Moniteau County	372	3	89.6	240.2	Wind	21	92	23	27	Very Low
Andrew County	378	9	87.4	210.0	Wind	24	114	32	146	Very Low
Pettis County	595	11	87.2	137.8	Wind	41	201	21	45	Relatively Low
Lincoln County	537	21	85.7	87.2	Wind	24	123	29	2,253	Relatively Low
Daviess County	476	6	84.5	566.7	Hail	21	151	24	37	Very Low
Atchison County	462	10	84.4	882.7	Hail	19	162	23	146	Very Low
Worth County	225	5	84.4	1,134.6	Hail	13	80	21	0	Very Low
Gasconade County	436	1	84.0	294.8	Hail	8	137	21	445	Very Low
Henry County	582	5	83.5	262.1	Flood	19	154	20	1	Relatively Low
Howard County	374	8	80.6	367.8	Hail	10	103	29	69	Very Low
Lewis County	405	3	80.2	405.0	Wind	14	115	27	143	Very Low
Montgomery County	424	2	79.2	371.4	Hail	25	120	26	126	Very Low
St. Clair County	531	21	78.7	566.3	Hail	25	163	24	0	Very Low
Maries County	392	5	74.4	466.3	Wind	10	96	28	101	Very Low
Ralls County	348	3	74.1	335.9	Wind	12	73	26	51	Very Low
Callaway County	615	7	73.7	137.8	Wind	42	192	30	316	Relatively Low
Ray County	416	13	73.1	180.8	Hail	34	116	33	191	Relatively Low
Caldwell County	308	3	72.2	346.2	Hail	11	102	24	1	Very Low
Holt County	333	3	72.0	788.0	Hail	15	131	25	1,254	Very Low
Nodaway County	629	9	71.7	297.3	Hail	35	242	22	7	Relatively Low
Adair County	406	3	71.6	161.2	Wind	10	105	26	21	Very Low
Livingston County	372	5	69.9	252.1	Hail	12	104	23	24	Very Low
Saline County	528	3	69.9	226.7	Flood	25	142	26	16	Relatively Low
Audrain County	468	17	67.6	187.3	Wind	26	123	19	60	Relatively Low
Gentry County	331	4	67.4	536.2	Hail	21	114	22	2	Very Low
Dent County	497	8	66.0	344.4	Hail	20	131	18	5	Relatively Low
Crawford County	478	7	64.4	209.6	Hail	25	152	24	125	Relatively Low
Schuyler County	197	1	64.1	489.4	Winter	9	38	18	0	Very Low
Randolph County	308	5	63.8	124.4	Wind	11	90	18	3	Very Low
Ste. Genevieve County	317	5	63.5	170.5	Wind	13	70	31	1,160	Relatively Low
Texas County	745	21	63.3	298.2	Hail	41	254	27	15	Relatively Low
Mercer County	287	5	63.2	822.8	Hail	17	89	20	0	Very Low
Shelby County	313	6	62.5	523.8	Wind	21	60	27	2	Very Low
DeKalb County	263	7	62.4	237.0	Hail	19	135	22	6	Very Low
Washington County	474	8	62.4	201.7	Hail	28	174	28	38	Relatively Low
Iron County	333	1	60.5	354.0	Wind	27	80	27	59	Relatively Low
Pike County	404	4	60.3	227.5	Wind	24	94	26	938	Very Low
Harrison County	431	24	59.7	527.9	Hail	24	166	19	6	Very Low
Shannon County	587	19	58.5	826.1	Flood	23	153	27	18	Relatively Low
Madison County	285	4	57.6	225.3	Wind	36	36	26	155	Relatively Low
Linn County	353	13	57.3	298.1	Wind	19	107	23	22	Very Low
Chariton County	430	1	57.2	584.6	Flood	19	108	28	57	Very Low
Osage County	346	4	57.0	258.6	Hail	11	95	30	180	Very Low
Bates County	469	33	56.1	291.2	Hail	28	192	23	25	Very Low
Knox County	282	1	56.0	740.5	Wind	9	62	26	4	Very Low
Oregon County	436	11	55.2	505.2	Wind	22	116	25	39	Relatively Low
Carroll County	366	3	52.7	437.0	Hail	16	113	29	179	Very Low
Macon County	417	9	52.0	274.6	Hail	15	149	23	2	Very Low
Monroe County	334	4	51.6	383.4	Wind	26	65	19	12	Very Low
Putnam County	265	2	51.2	562.4	Hail	8	76	19	1	Very Low
Sullivan County	289	8	44.6	487.0	Hail	9	86	25	2	Very Low
Reynolds County	297	3	36.7	487.9	Wind	23	65	27	141	Relatively Low

Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).

Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force

County	Claims, last 10 years	Policies in force	Claims per 100 policies	Claims since 1978	Paid
Lincoln County	311	167	186.2	2,253	$37M
Holt County	266	199	133.7	1,254	$39M
Franklin County	178	156	114.1	1,097	$32M
Cass County	81	102	79.4	328	$5.4M
St. Charles County	795	1,076	73.9	9,999	$156M
Newton County	101	143	70.6	215	$5.4M
Buchanan County	150	215	69.8	623	$23M
St. Louis County	1,228	2,070	59.3	12,031	$265M
Jefferson County	341	591	57.7	4,592	$69M
Taney County	70	141	49.6	400	$19M
Jasper County	52	121	43.0	175	$2.9M
Platte County	40	109	36.7	368	$13M
Jackson County	191	527	36.2	2,115	$46M
Butler County	79	261	30.3	517	$10M
St. Louis city	40	135	29.6	739	$10M

Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.

Federal disaster declarations by year

195319902026

Declarations touching Missouri by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Severe Storm	48
Flood	24
Severe Ice Storm	6
Tornado	5
Biological	2
Hurricane	1
Fire	1
Drought	1

Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
1 Sep 2026	DR-4939	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	9
3 Aug 2026	DR-4929	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	34
30 Jun 2026	DR-4924	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	10
22 Jul 2025	DR-4885	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	5
9 Jun 2025	DR-4877	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	3
9 Jun 2025	DR-4876	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	6
21 May 2025	DR-4872	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	27
21 May 2025	DR-4867	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Wildfires	25
1 Jan 2025	DR-4855	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	14
23 Jul 2024	DR-4803	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	15
21 Sep 2023	DR-4741	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	33
8 Aug 2022	DR-4665	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	4
10 Jan 2022	DR-4636	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	7
1 Sep 2021	DR-4612	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	21
9 Jul 2020	DR-4552	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	19

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

NFIP claims in Missouri by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.

51,304 claims, 43,389 paid, $984M in total; 3,886 repetitive-loss and 974 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Missouri with flood claims (433).

Year by year

Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1950

Questions and answers

Which Missouri counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Greene (60), St. Louis (58) and Jasper (54), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which Missouri counties have the most flood insurance claims?

St. Louis (12,031), St. Charles (9,999) and Jefferson (4,592) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has Missouri had?

88 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 3 of them in 2026 so far.

How does Missouri compare with the national rate?

106.7 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 8.3 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.

Provenance

NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.