FEMA Records
33
Very high volume
Alabama · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Covington County, AL
33 FEMA disaster declarations (1975-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 33
- FEMA declarations
- 21
- Major disasters
- 82
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Covington County. Its 33 FEMA declarations are 28% above the Alabama county mean and exceed the count for 91% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 18%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 18%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 33
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 37
- 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.
How does Covington County compare?
Covington County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
33 Top 9% higher than 91% 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 · 2026-08-03
Covington County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Alabama county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Covington County is led by Hurricane (about $17.5M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Lightning 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 Covington County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 82.4/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $33.1M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Very High and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Lightning stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 75 times per year here, based on 196,979 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 33 entries for Covington County, including 21 Major Disaster records, 28% above the Alabama county mean. Across the 49-year span, that works out to 0.7 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 15 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 37 claims and $396.6K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Covington County's 33 federal records stand 28% above the Alabama county mean of 25.8. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
71 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Covington 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) Very High
24/30
33 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.6x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
16/25
33 declarations (1.3x state county average of 26)
Major Disaster Share High
16/25
21 of 33 declarations are major disasters (64%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Covington County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Alabama Avg
+28%
State avg: 25.8
vs. National Avg
+59%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.7
Over 49 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Covington 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
64%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
82
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Covington 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 75 times per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 6 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 7.3 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 25 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 953 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 953 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 2.1 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 8 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.4 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 15
Severe Storm 13
Biological 2
Snowstorm 1
Drought 1
Flood 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Covington County's federal record, 45% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
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 - 21 63.6%
of all 33 declarations
Emergency - 12 36.4%
of all 33 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 6 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 4 | |
Show 8 earlier declaration years
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 33 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 33 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 |
| 4563 | HURRICANE SALLY | DR | Hurricane | 2020-09-20 |
| 3545 | HURRICANE SALLY | EM | Hurricane | 2020-09-14 |
| 4554 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2020-07-10 |
| 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 |
| 3407 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | EM | Hurricane | 2018-10-12 |
| 3394 | HURRICANE NATE | EM | Hurricane | 2017-10-08 |
| 3389 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-11 |
| 4251 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-01-21 |
| 4176 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-05-02 |
| 4082 | HURRICANE ISAAC | DR | Hurricane | 2012-09-21 |
| 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 |
| 1870 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-12-31 |
| 1835 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, TORNADOES & STRAIGHT-LINE | DR | Severe Storm | 2009-04-28 |
| 3292 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-30 |
| 3237 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1593 | HURRICANE DENNIS | DR | Hurricane | 2005-07-10 |
Show 13 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1549 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-15 |
| 1250 | HURRICANE GEORGES - 18 SEP 98 | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-30 |
| 3133 | HURRICANE GEORGES | EM | Hurricane | 1998-09-28 |
| 1214 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-04-09 |
| 1208 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-03-09 |
| 1070 | HURRICANE OPAL | DR | Hurricane | 1995-10-04 |
| 1034 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING (TROPICAL STORM ALBERTO) | DR | Severe Storm | 1994-07-08 |
| 3096 | SEVERE SNOWFALL, WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-15 |
| 861 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-03-21 |
| 598 | HURRICANE FREDERIC | DR | Hurricane | 1979-09-13 |
| 3045 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-07-20 |
| 488 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1975-10-02 |
| 464 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-04-23 |
Storm Events in Alabama
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Covington 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 NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
37
Total Paid
$396.6K
Avg Per Claim
$10.7K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 82.4/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$33.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Lightning Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Drought Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Landslide Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Hail Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Lightning
Lightning is modeled as a high-frequency, low-per-event hazard: strike counts are large, but each strike affects a very small area. Its aggregate cost accumulates through structure fires, electrical and electronic damage, and it is one of the few hazards whose risk is essentially continuous through the season rather than episodic.
Worth noting for Covington County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Lightning carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
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
Covington County's closest FEMA peer: Washington County, OK
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Covington County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Covington County shows 33 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Covington County: 21 of 33 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Covington County: NRI composite 82.4 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Covington County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 33 FEMA declarations, Covington County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Covington County?
The most common disaster type in Covington County is Hurricane, with 15 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (13), Biological (2), Snowstorm (1).
How does Covington County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Alabama average?
FEMA lists 33 declaration records for Covington County. That is 28% above the Alabama county mean of 25.8. Its count is also 59% above the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Covington County received?
Covington County has received 21 major disaster declarations, representing 64% of all 33 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Covington County filed?
Covington County has 37 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $396.6K in payments, with an average of $10.7K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Covington County?
No. In Covington County, Lightning has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Hurricane leads Expected Annual Loss at about $17.5M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Covington County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Covington County was 2020, with 6 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1975 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Covington County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Covington County, Alabama has an overall risk score of 82.4 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Very High, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $33.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Covington County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Covington County as of the latest release is Lightning (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively High) and Tornado (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts lightning here at an average of 75 times per year, drawn from 196,979 historical events on record. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against 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.
What this means for Covington County
Covington County, AL has 33 federal declaration records, 28% more than the Alabama county mean of 26; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 21 of 33 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Alabama overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Alabama mean and the totals for 91% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- A short NFIP claims file cannot establish low flood exposure; the data guide explains the limits of each federal measure. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.