Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Sharon
Sharon isn’t graded for hazard risk: FEMA’s tract figures aren’t matched to Sharon yet.
What Sharon 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 Sharon flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Sharon. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Sharon isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Weakley County.2 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Sharon
Disasters that paid out in Sharon itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Sharon), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2021Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes13 households applied for aid$4K aid approved
- 2003Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding4 households applied for aid$3K aid approved
Weakley County has had 15 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 Sharon after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Sharon archive →Get ready for what Sharon 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 Sharon
Is Sharon 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 Weakley County, 23% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.2% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Sharon?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Sharon’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 Sharon?
By FEMA money that reached Sharon, Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes (2021): 13 households applied for aid, $4K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Sharon.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Sharon’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.