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BHazard risk
Natural hazards in Flat Top Mountain · FEMA

On FEMA’s figures, Flat Top Mountain faces less hazard damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Flat Top Mountain gets a B for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%), then tornadoes (14%). Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2004.

River and rain flooding 70%Tornadoes 14%Earthquakes 8%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

less than 63%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
B
in Tennessee · lower than 63% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
70% of expected building damage
Flood claims
3
paid since 2004 · $47K
Flood claims per home
11 per 1,000
more than 75% of U.S. towns

What stands out about Flat Top Mountain’s natural hazards

From FEMA’s model and FEMA’s records, below.

Lower expected damage than 63% of U.S. townsFEMA’s model of yearly storm and flood damage per dollar of building.Landslides: the top 1% of U.S. tractsFEMA’s building-damage rate for landslides here ranks in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts; it is 1.6% of the damage it expects.
By hazard

What Flat Top Mountain 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

70%of expected building damage
About average · lower than 54% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14%of expected building damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. census tracts

Earthquakes

8%of expected building damage
Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. census tracts
Smaller shares here
 Wildfire Landslides top 1% Hail Ice storms Strong wind Winter storms Hurricanes Lightning Cold waves Heat waves
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts tornadoes at 32% of Flat Top Mountain’s expected losses. Tornadoes do little damage to buildings (14.1%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

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.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Flat Top Mountain’s grade

River and rain flooding is 70% of the building damage FEMA expects in Flat Top Mountain, and Flat Top Mountain’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 54% of U.S. census tracts. Landslides add 2%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Flat Top Mountain sits
Flat Top Mountain
Least damageMiddleMost damage

B lower expected damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Flat Top Mountain’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding70%Tornadoes14%Earthquakes8%Everything else8%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $138K a year in losses across Flat Top Mountain: $83K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Flat Top Mountain’s 561 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract. FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Flat Top Mountain flood? Rarely: 3 flood claims since 2004

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Flat Top Mountain, from FEMA’s records: 10.6 per 1,000 homes, more than 75% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
2004: 1 claim2005: 0 claims2006: 0 claims2007: 0 claims2008: 0 claims2009: 0 claims2010: 0 claims2011: 0 claims2012: 0 claims2013: 0 claims2014: 0 claims2015: 0 claims2016: 0 claims2017: 0 claims2018: 1 claim2019: 0 claims2020: 1 claim2021: 0 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims200420182020
20042026
3
paid claims since 2004
$47K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$16K
average claim
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Flat Top Mountain isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Hamilton County.
Disasters

The storms Flat Top Mountain remembers

None of the 19 disasters declared for Hamilton County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Flat Top Mountain itself in FEMA’s records, so these are its biggest flood-claim years.

  1. 20041 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms and Flooding, declared for Hamilton County
  2. 20181 flood claims paidNo declaration for the county that year
  3. 20201 flood claims paidThe year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding, declared for Hamilton County
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Flat Top MountainHamilton County only

Hamilton County has had 19 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then floods. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.

Also 2 FEMA wildfire suppression grants (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Hamilton County, 2016–2016.

Were you here?

Old photos of Flat Top Mountain after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Flat Top Mountain archive →
Next door

Flat Top Mountain and its neighbors

Flat Top Mountain has the lowest expected damage per building of the 3 graded towns here. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Mowbray Mountain: hazard risk C+Soddy-Daisy: hazard risk CMowbray MountainSoddy-DaisyFlat Top Mountain
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
Flat Top MountainBless damage than 63%river and rain flooding3
Mowbray MountainC+more damage than 64%river and rain flooding12
Soddy-DaisyCmore damage than 74%river and rain flooding54

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Flat Top Mountain faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Tornado warnings
  • Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
  • A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
  • Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Earthquakes
  • Drop, cover and hold on.
  • Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
  • Know how to shut off the gas.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • 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.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Flat Top Mountain

Is Flat Top Mountain at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Flat Top Mountain has lower expected damage per building than 63% of U.S. towns: B for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%) and tornadoes (14%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Does Flat Top Mountain flood?

Flood insurance has paid 3 claims in Flat Top Mountain since 2004, $47K in all, or 10.6 per 1,000 homes, more than 75% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Is Flat Top Mountain 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 Hamilton County, 22% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.0% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Flat Top Mountain?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Flat Top Mountain’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

Is Flat Top Mountain at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (70%), and Flat Top Mountain’s rate for it is lower than 54% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Flat Top Mountain.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Flat Top Mountain’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.