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Editorial

Most disaster-prone counties in Kentucky

Kentucky has 3,351 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 120 counties. The dominant hazard type is severe storm. Breathitt County leads with 49 declarations, followed by Lawrence County and Magoffin County.

This ranking shows every county in Kentucky ordered by how many times FEMA has issued a disaster declaration affecting it. Counties near coastlines, river systems, or wildfire corridors tend to appear at the top because the same geographic exposure produces recurring events across decades.

Each county links to a full disaster history page with the complete declaration timeline, hazard type breakdown, decade trends, and whatever FEMA spending data is available. For a national view, see the most disaster-prone counties in America page.

Kentucky ranking

All counties by FEMA declaration count

#CountyDeclarationsTop hazardFirst yearLatest year
1Breathitt County49Severe Storm19672026
2Lawrence County49Severe Storm19672026
3Magoffin County49Severe Storm19672026
4Floyd County48Severe Storm19672026
5Johnson County48Severe Storm19672026
6Clay County47Severe Storm19702026
7Owsley County47Severe Storm19702026
8Pike County47Severe Storm19672026
9Perry County46Severe Storm19672026
10Knott County43Severe Storm19672026
11Lee County41Severe Storm19782026
12Letcher County40Severe Storm19672026
13Knox County39Severe Storm19672026
14Leslie County39Severe Storm19672026
15Estill County38Severe Storm19782026
16Carter County37Severe Storm19782026
17Martin County37Severe Storm19672026
18Whitley County37Severe Storm19742026
19Jackson County35Severe Storm19702026
20Powell County35Severe Storm19672026
21Elliott County34Severe Storm19892026
22Lewis County34Severe Storm19672026
23Morgan County34Severe Storm19782026
24Wolfe County34Severe Storm19782026
25Boyd County33Severe Storm19672026
26Casey County33Severe Storm19702026
27Greenup County33Severe Storm19672026
28Harlan County33Severe Storm19672026
29Rockcastle County33Severe Storm19742026
30Nicholas County32Severe Storm19892026
31Rowan County32Tropical Storm19782026
32Menifee County31Severe Storm19932026
33Hopkins County30Severe Storm19692026
34Metcalfe County30Severe Storm19752026
35Ohio County30Severe Storm19712026
36Bath County29Tropical Storm19782026
37Bell County29Severe Storm19672026
38Butler County29Severe Storm19692026
39Grayson County29Severe Storm19742026
40Livingston County29Severe Storm19752026
41Marshall County29Severe Storm19752026
42Spencer County29Severe Storm19742026
43Washington County29Severe Storm19892026
44Ballard County28Severe Storm19732026
45Breckinridge County28Severe Storm19742026
46Crittenden County28Severe Storm19962026
47Hickman County28Severe Storm19732026
48Lincoln County28Severe Storm19702026
49Union County28Severe Storm19962026
50Bullitt County27Severe Storm19702026
51Caldwell County27Severe Storm19892026
52Carlisle County27Severe Storm19732026
53Clark County27Severe Storm19742026
54Franklin County27Severe Storm19722026
55Hart County27Severe Storm19892026
56Laurel County27Severe Storm19702026
57Madison County27Severe Storm19722026
58Adair County26Severe Storm19712026
59Edmonson County26Severe Storm19892026
60Fleming County26Tropical Storm19782026
61Fulton County26Severe Storm19732026
62Green County26Severe Storm19712026
63Hardin County26Severe Storm19702026
64Trigg County26Severe Storm19892026
65Warren County26Severe Storm19692026
66Anderson County25Severe Storm19742026
67Christian County25Severe Storm19752026
68Hancock County25Severe Storm19962026
69Jefferson County25Severe Storm19742026
70Jessamine County25Severe Storm19682026
71Larue County25Severe Storm19702026
72Mercer County25Severe Storm19742026
73Woodford County25Severe Storm19782026
74Harrison County24Severe Storm19742026
75McLean County24Severe Storm19892026
76Meade County24Severe Storm19742026
77Montgomery County24Tropical Storm19742026
78Muhlenberg County24Severe Storm19692026
79Nelson County24Severe Storm19702026
80Pulaski County24Severe Storm19712026
81Robertson County24Severe Storm19932026
82Taylor County24Severe Storm19742026
83Wayne County24Severe Storm19722026
84Webster County24Severe Storm19692026
85Henderson County23Severe Storm19962026
86Henry County23Severe Storm19742026
87Marion County23Severe Storm19702026
88Mason County23Severe Storm19682026
89McCracken County23Severe Storm19732026
90Owen County23Severe Storm19742026
91Bourbon County22Tropical Storm19782026
92Carroll County22Severe Storm19782026
93Cumberland County22Severe Storm19692026
94Graves County22Severe Storm19752026
95Lyon County22Severe Storm19962026
96McCreary County22Severe Storm19742026
97Pendleton County22Severe Storm19682026
98Russell County22Severe Storm19712026
99Trimble County22Severe Storm19782026
100Allen County21Severe Storm19692026
101Barren County21Severe Storm19932026
102Boyle County21Severe Storm19742026
103Fayette County21Severe Storm19782026
104Monroe County21Severe Storm19692026
105Calloway County20Severe Storm19752026
106Shelby County20Severe Storm19962026
107Simpson County20Severe Storm19692026
108Todd County20Severe Storm19692026
109Daviess County19Severe Storm19962026
110Garrard County19Severe Storm19932026
111Logan County19Severe Storm19692026
112Bracken County18Severe Storm19682026
113Grant County18Severe Storm19962026
114Oldham County18Severe Storm19742026
115Campbell County17Severe Storm19932026
116Clinton County17Severe Storm19742026
117Gallatin County17Severe Storm19962026
118Kenton County15Severe Storm19962026
119Scott County15Severe Storm19742026
120Boone County13Severe Storm19742026