How Likely Is a Tornado in Clark County, IN?
Clark County, IN: what NOAA's tornado record says
Clark County has recorded 24 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 3.2 years - our Moderate band. Put another way: Clark County sees more tornado activity than 59% of US counties. Indiana has 92 counties in this dataset; Clark County ranks 32 of them by frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
2 tornados touching Clark County reached violent (EF4-5) strength since 1950. That single fact carries more weight for the shelter decision than the county's overall frequency band.
The dollar figure Clark County's rating leads to
Nationally, storm shelters and safe rooms run $2,890-$13,280. Because Clark County is in Indiana, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security's Residential Safe Room Program can cut that by 75% (capped at $5,000), to about $722.5-$8,280 net - check current funding status before counting on it.
What a direct hit isn't required for
The storm that misses Clark County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across Indiana are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Clark County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 372 square miles, so a single touch counts the same as one in a county a fraction of that size. Weaker pre-1990s tornadoes are also documented as undercounted in NOAA's own record. Clark County has about 127,479 residents.