Photo: DwayneP. The original uploader was DwayneP at English Wikipedia. · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Bulls Gap
Bulls Gap isn’t graded for hazard risk: Bulls Gap has 948 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Bulls Gap faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Earthquakes
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Bulls Gap flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Bulls Gap. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Bulls Gap isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Hawkins County.1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Bulls Gap
Disasters that paid out in Bulls Gap itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Bulls Gap), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Tropical Storm Helene75 households applied for aid$49K aid approved
Hawkins County has had 11 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Hawkins County, 2000–2000.
Old photos of Bulls Gap after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Bulls Gap archive →Get ready for what Bulls Gap faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Bulls Gap
Is Bulls Gap in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Hawkins County, 18% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Bulls Gap?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Bulls Gap’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Bulls Gap?
By FEMA money that reached Bulls Gap, Tropical Storm Helene (2024): 75 households applied for aid, $49K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Bulls Gap.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Bulls Gap’s residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.