Disaster Data / States / Tennessee / Sullivan County

County

Sullivan County, Tennessee

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

Highlighted: Sullivan County, TN

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

6
Declarations since FY2000
3
Major disasters (DR)
3
Emergencies (EM)
0
Fire management (FM)
Feb 2026
Most recent
$4.1M
Federal PA obligated (top: utilities)

The federal disaster record for Sullivan County runs between 2005 and 2025, covering 6 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Tropical Storm Helene in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often severe storm, biological, and tropical storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $4.1 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for utilities.

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 47163
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
48.4
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 48.4% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status67.6
Household characteristics42.8
Racial and ethnic minority status18.6
Housing type and transportation36.4

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

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
71.5
overall risk score
Relatively Low
Expected annual loss$28.5MRelatively Low
NRI social vulnerability44.8Relatively Moderate
Community resilience40.2Relatively 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
Utilities(F)5$3,122,945
Debris removal(A)6$574,199
Emergency protective measures(B)7$222,221
Buildings and equipment(E)18$129,400
Parks and recreation(G)5$37,765
Management costs(Z)2$19,363
All categories43$4,105,893

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 5-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 175 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.

Tropical Storm Helene 2024$3.6M
175 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$139K
473 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Associated Flooding 2011$399K
107 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 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.

917
valid registrations
811
households approved
$5,411,289
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Other needs$5,411,289

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.

$1,193,713
federal mitigation share
8
funded projects
17
properties mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)8$1,193,713

State declarations (governor)

Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.

1
state declarations with local storm evidence
2
statewide on record

Archive coverage for Tennessee: 2000-present SOS catalog via state-university mirror; legacy exact-date review pending

SignedOrderDeclarationHazards reported hereReported damage
Sep 27, 2024105No. 105 An Order to Provide Relief to Victims of Severe Weather and Flooding in TennesseeFlood, Hail, Thunderstorm WindNot reported

Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.

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 Sullivan County, sourced to OpenFEMA and refreshed weekly. Copy it straight into your plan.

HazardDateFEMA declarationType
Severe StormApr 2, 2025EM-3625-TNEM
Tropical StormOct 2, 2024DR-4832-TNDR
BiologicalApr 2, 2020DR-4514-TNDR
BiologicalMar 13, 2020EM-3473-TNEM
Severe StormMay 1, 2011DR-1974-TNDR
HurricaneSep 5, 2005EM-3217-TNEM

Every declaration on record

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

Showing 6 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Apr 2, 2025EM-3625-TNEMSevere StormSevere Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding
Oct 2, 2024DR-4832-TNDRTropical StormTropical Storm Helene
Apr 2, 2020DR-4514-TNDRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3473-TNEMBiologicalCovid-19
May 1, 2011DR-1974-TNDRSevere StormSevere Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Associated Flooding
Sep 5, 2005EM-3217-TNEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
← Tennessee statewide overview · All Tennessee jurisdictions

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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