FEMA Records
24
Above median
Alabama · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Colbert County, AL
24 FEMA disaster declarations (1973-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 24
- FEMA declarations
- 15
- Major disasters
- 81
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Colbert County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 24 declarations, more than 66% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 7% below the Alabama county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 19%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 19%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 24
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 144
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 01033 · Colbert County 24 declarations · rank 950/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 24
- MAJOR-MID 63%
- RANK-LOWER #950
- PHOTO-FINISH Eddy
- NRI-LOW 81
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-BELOW -7%
Nearest declaration peer: Eddy, ND (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Alabama state profile
Colbert County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Colbert County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Colbert · this county 24
Colbert · this county
24 declarations
- Deuel · near 24
Deuel · near
24 declarations
- Eddy · near 24
Eddy · near
24 declarations
- Wichita · near 24
Wichita · near
24 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Colbert County carries 24 FEMA declaration records, ranked 950 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Colbert County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Colbert County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Colbert County
24 Top 34% higher than 66% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Colbert County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Colbert County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $13.7M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Strong Wind carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Colbert County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 144 paid claims, totaling $1.9M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $13.4K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
Start with the state benchmark: a Alabama county averages 25.8 federal declaration records, while Colbert County has 24. The gap is 7% below that mean. Fewer entries indicate a quieter history of recorded federal actions, not immunity from a hazard and not a prediction about what happens next.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 80.7/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $34.9M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Strong Wind stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 4.4 times per year here, based on 168 historical events on record.
63 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Colbert County, AL · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) High
17/30
24 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.2x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
24 declarations (0.9x state county average of 26)
Major Disaster Share High
16/25
15 of 24 declarations are major disasters (63%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Colbert County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Colbert County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
63%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
81
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Colbert County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 4.4 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 282 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 62 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 8.9 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.9 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 18 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 32 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 4.2 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 3,399 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 4.1 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 10
Hurricane 7
Biological 2
Tornado 2
Snowstorm 1
Flood 1
Drought 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Colbert County's record, 42% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 15 62.5%
of all 24 declarations
Emergency - 9 37.5%
of all 24 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
Show 4 earlier declaration years
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 24 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 24 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3618 | HURRICANE HELENE | EM | Hurricane | 2024-09-26 |
| 4710 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-05-05 |
| 3545 | HURRICANE SALLY | EM | Hurricane | 2020-09-14 |
| 4546 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2020-05-21 |
| 4503 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-29 |
| 3472 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4426 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-04-17 |
| 3389 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-11 |
| 4251 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-01-21 |
| 1971 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-04-28 |
| 3319 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-04-27 |
| 3292 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-30 |
| 3237 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1605 | HURRICANE KATRINA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-08-29 |
| 1549 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-15 |
| 1466 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-05-12 |
| 1261 | RIV-SEVERE WINTER WX 12/23/98 | DR | Severe Storm | 1999-01-15 |
| 1104 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, ICE AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-02-23 |
| 1013 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, FREEZING, FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-03-03 |
| 3096 | SEVERE SNOWFALL, WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-15 |
Show 4 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 890 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1991-01-04 |
| 3045 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-07-20 |
| 422 | TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1974-04-04 |
| 369 | TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1973-03-27 |
Storm Events in Alabama
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Colbert County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 7,827 | 16 | 115 | $51.7M |
| Hail | 1,349 | 0 | 0 | $5.0K |
| Flash Flood | 1,047 | 17 | 7 | $12.8M |
| Tornado | 896 | 57 | 343 | $49.7M |
| Drought | 857 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
144
Total Paid
$1.9M
Avg Per Claim
$13.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 80.7/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$34.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Strong Wind Relatively High
Earthquake Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Hail Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Strong Wind
Strong Wind covers damaging non-thunderstorm, non-tornadic wind, the kind produced by steep pressure gradients and downslope events. It is a broad, frequent, low-drama hazard: roofs, signage, power lines and high-profile vehicles, spread across a wide area rather than concentrated on a path.
For Colbert County the two measures on this page point the same way: Strong Wind is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Severe Storm declarations also lead its federal record. Where the model and the declaration history agree, the reading is comparatively straightforward, the hazard is both expected and repeatedly realised.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Colbert County's closest FEMA peer: Upshur County, TX
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Colbert County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Colbert County shows 24 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Colbert County: 15 of 24 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Colbert County: NRI composite 80.7 (Relatively Low).
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Colbert County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Colbert County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 80.7 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 24. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Colbert County's NFIP claims file (144 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Colbert County?
The most common disaster type in Colbert County is Severe Storm, with 10 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (7), Biological (2), Tornado (2).
How does Colbert County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Alabama average?
The typical Alabama county has 25.8 FEMA declaration records; Colbert County has 24, or 7% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 16% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Colbert County received?
Colbert County has received 15 major disaster declarations, representing 63% of all 24 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Colbert County filed?
Colbert County has 144 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $1.9M in payments, with an average of $13.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Colbert County?
No. In Colbert County, Strong Wind has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $13.7M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Colbert County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Colbert County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1973 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Colbert County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Colbert County, Alabama has an overall risk score of 80.7 out of 100 (Relatively Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively High; on community resilience, Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $34.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Colbert County?
FEMA's NRI data points to Colbert County as of the latest release is Strong Wind (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Earthquake (Relatively Moderate) and Cold Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts strong wind here at an average of 4.4 times per year, drawn from 168 historical events on record. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, exposed assets, and community vulnerability.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Colbert County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Alabama profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events