Disaster Data / States / Tennessee / Rutherford County

County

Rutherford County, Tennessee

Rutherford County recorded 9 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 6 major disasters, 3 emergencies, and 0 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is severe storm.

Highlighted: Rutherford County, TN

Totals: FY2000–FY2025 · Page last rebuilt Sep 12, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals

9
Declarations since FY2000
6
Major disasters (DR)
3
Emergencies (EM)
0
Fire management (FM)
Feb 2026
Most recent
$30.3M
Federal PA obligated (top: emergency protective measures)

The federal disaster record for Rutherford County runs between 2002 and 2025, covering 9 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes in 2023. The hazards behind these declarations were most often severe storm, biological, and hurricane. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $30.3 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for emergency protective measures.

Risk and vulnerability context

Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.

County FIPS 47149
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
42.7
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 42.7% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status36.3
Household characteristics56.6
Racial and ethnic minority status69.9
Housing type and transportation30.0

Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
91.7
overall risk score
Relatively Moderate
Expected annual loss$134.9MRelatively Moderate
NRI social vulnerability15.5Very Low
Community resilience56.3Relatively Moderate

The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation

About these measures: CDC Social Vulnerability Index and FEMA National Risk Index Social Vulnerability are separate measures built with different methods. They are shown side by side for context and should not be interpreted as equivalent scores.

Federal Public Assistance by category

Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.

CategoryProjectsFederal share obligated
Emergency protective measures(B)56$17,227,306
Utilities(F)36$7,790,427
Debris removal(A)32$3,667,587
Roads and bridges(C)55$648,802
Management costs(Z)7$385,601
Buildings and equipment(E)13$285,201
Parks and recreation(G)26$253,782
Water control facilities(D)1$2,585
All categories226$30,261,291

Recovery funding, how fast it came

For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 7-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 122 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.

DR-4898 2026$860K
109 days to first federal obligation
DR-4792 2024$62K
125 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes 2023$439K
209 days to first federal obligation
DR-4601 2021$81K
89 days to first federal obligation
DR-4594 2021$750K
121 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$15.1M
123 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 yr6 yr7 yr

Assistance to households (Individual Assistance)

FEMA Individual Assistance to households in this jurisdiction, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved counts and dollars are the households FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Figures are self-reported and drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, not audited, and Individual Assistance exists only for disasters where it was designated, so many jurisdictions show none.

3,040
valid registrations
1,571
households approved
$8,500,586
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$3,292,855
Rental assistance$484,515
Other needs$4,719,640

Hazard mitigation, what has been funded here

Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance obligated to this jurisdiction to reduce future disaster losses, across the FEMA mitigation programs. This is the record of past mitigation investment a local hazard mitigation plan documents. Figures are federal share obligated, reported through OpenFEMA and not audited, and are separate from the Public Assistance funding above.

$5,463,063
federal mitigation share
14
funded projects
30
properties mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)11$3,598,015
Pre-Disaster Mitigation(PDM)3$1,865,048

Most common hazards

Previous occurrences, for your mitigation plan

Every local hazard mitigation plan must document previous occurrences of each hazard. Here is that record for Rutherford County, sourced to OpenFEMA and refreshed weekly. Copy it straight into your plan.

HazardDateFEMA declarationType
Severe StormApr 2, 2025EM-3625-TNEM
Severe StormApr 7, 2023DR-4701-TNDR
BiologicalApr 2, 2020DR-4514-TNDR
BiologicalMar 13, 2020EM-3473-TNEM
Severe StormMay 4, 2010DR-1909-TNDR
Severe StormMay 15, 2009DR-1839-TNDR
HurricaneSep 5, 2005EM-3217-TNEM
Severe StormMay 8, 2003DR-1464-TNDR
Severe StormNov 13, 2002DR-1441-TNDR

Every declaration on record

DR = Major disaster (Stafford Act) · EM = Emergency declaration · FM = Fire management assistance

Showing 9 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Apr 2, 2025EM-3625-TNEMSevere StormSevere Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding
Apr 7, 2023DR-4701-TNDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes
Apr 2, 2020DR-4514-TNDRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3473-TNEMBiologicalCovid-19
May 4, 2010DR-1909-TNDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Flooding, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes
May 15, 2009DR-1839-TNDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding
Sep 5, 2005EM-3217-TNEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
May 8, 2003DR-1464-TNDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding
Nov 13, 2002DR-1441-TNDRSevere StormSevere Storms And Tornados
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How these numbers are built

Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to Tennessee's statewide total. This page counts declarations that named this jurisdiction as a designated area. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30); the in-progress year may appear in the most-recent list but is not counted in the totals. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.

Cite this profile

Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.

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