How Likely Is a Tornado in Vigo County, IN?
How likely is a tornado in Vigo County, IN?
Vigo County has recorded 17 tornado touches in NOAA's 76-year database, a rate of roughly one every 4.5 years - our Moderate band. Put another way: Vigo County sees more tornado activity than 46% of US counties. Indiana has 92 counties in this dataset; Vigo County ranks 59 of them by frequency.
Beyond the frequency band: violent history
13 weak and 4 significant tornadoes make up Vigo County's 17-track record - none violent. NOAA has never logged an EF4 or EF5 crossing this county.
The dollar figure Vigo County's rating leads to
Nationally, storm shelters and safe rooms run $2,890-$13,280. Because Vigo 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
106,166 people live in Vigo 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 Vigo County's number: it is county-wide, and it covers about 404 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. Vigo County has about 106,166 residents.