Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Less hazard damage per building is expected in Franklin than in 90% of U.S. towns, mostly from river and rain flooding
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Franklin gets an A for hazard risk: lower expected damage per building than 90% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (70%), then tornadoes (14%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.
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
What stands out about Franklin’s natural hazards
From FEMA’s model and FEMA’s records, below.
What Franklin 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
Tornadoes
Hurricanes
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.
What’s behind Franklin’s grade
River and rain flooding is 70% of the building damage FEMA expects in Franklin, and Franklin’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is lower than 79% of U.S. census tracts. Cold waves add 1%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.
A lower expected damage per building than 90% of U.S. towns (21,298).
All of Franklin’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.
In dollars, FEMA expects about $592K a year in losses across Franklin: $336K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.
Does Franklin flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Franklin. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Franklin isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Robertson County.1 federal disaster brought FEMA money to Franklin
Disasters that paid out in Franklin itself (aid to households or repair grants to the City of Franklin), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2021Severe Winter Storms33 households applied for aid$35K aid approved
Robertson County has had 13 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then hurricanes and tropical storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Franklin after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Franklin archive →Get ready for what Franklin 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.
- 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.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- 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 Franklin
Is Franklin at risk for natural disasters?
On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Franklin has lower expected damage per building than 90% of U.S. towns: A 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.
Is Franklin 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 Robertson County, 21% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.8% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Franklin?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Franklin’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 Franklin?
By FEMA money that reached Franklin, Severe Winter Storms (2021): 33 households applied for aid, $35K approved.
Is Franklin at risk from river and rain flooding?
It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (70%), and Franklin’s rate for it is lower than 79% of U.S. census tracts.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Franklin.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Franklin’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.