How Likely Is a Tornado in Dearborn County, IN?
Dearborn County's tornado history, by the numbers
Dearborn County has recorded 15 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 5.1 years - our Moderate band. Put another way: Dearborn County sees more tornado activity than 41% of US counties. Within Indiana alone, Dearborn County ranks 67 of 92 counties for tornado frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
1 tornado touching Dearborn 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 Dearborn County's rating leads to
A storm shelter or in-residence safe room typically runs $2,890-$13,280 nationally (around $7,645 typical). Indiana's Indiana Department of Homeland Security's Residential Safe Room Program covers 75% of an approved project, up to $5,000 - bringing a typical job down to roughly $722.5-$8,280 out of pocket, when the program is currently funded.
What a direct hit isn't required for
51,435 people live in Dearborn County, and a tornado outbreak's power loss usually reaches far more of Indiana than the tracks themselves touch. A portable battery unit is the faster, no-fuel way to bridge that outage.
What this number is, and is not
One caveat before relying on Dearborn County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 305 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. Dearborn County has about 51,435 residents.