Photo: Chase Via · CC BY-SA 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Hickory Valley
Hickory Valley isn’t graded for hazard risk: Hickory Valley has 126 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Hickory Valley faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Earthquakes
River and rain flooding
Tornadoes
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 Hickory Valley flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Hickory Valley. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Hickory Valley isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Hardeman County.4 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Hickory Valley
Disasters that paid out in Hickory Valley itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Hickory Valley), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2026Severe Winter Storm45 households applied for aid$165K aid approved
- 2025Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding2 households applied for aid$300 aid approved
- 2023Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes9 households applied for aid$13K aid approved
- 2010Severe Storms, Flooding, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes2 households applied for aid$1K aid approved
Hardeman County has had 13 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.
Old photos of Hickory Valley after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Hickory Valley archive →Get ready for what Hickory Valley faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Hickory Valley
Is Hickory Valley 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 Hardeman County, 5% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.0% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Hickory Valley?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Hickory Valley’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 Hickory Valley?
By FEMA money that reached Hickory Valley, Severe Winter Storm (2026): 45 households applied for aid, $165K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Hickory Valley.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Hickory Valley’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.