FEMA Records
20
Above median
Alabama · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Lowndes County, AL
20 FEMA disaster declarations (1975-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 20
- FEMA declarations
- 10
- Major disasters
- 29
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Lowndes County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 20 declarations, more than 46% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 23% below the Alabama county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 29%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 29%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 20
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 11
- 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 01085 · Lowndes County 20 declarations · rank 1751/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-HEAVY 20
- MAJOR-MID 50%
- RANK-LOWER #1,751
- PHOTO-FINISH Monona
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -23%
Nearest declaration peer: Monona, IA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Alabama state profile
Lowndes County in the declaration-count neighbourhood
FEMA declaration records among Lowndes County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Cleveland · near 20
Cleveland · near
20 declarations
- Lowndes · this county 20
Lowndes · this county
20 declarations
- Monona · near 20
Monona · near
20 declarations
- Tallapoosa · near 20
Tallapoosa · near
20 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Lowndes County carries 20 FEMA declaration records, ranked 1751 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
How Lowndes County's FEMA declaration count compares nationally
Lowndes County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Lowndes County
20 46th percentile higher than 46% 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
Lowndes County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Lowndes County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $2.1M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Heat Wave carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low). 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 Lowndes County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
This county's FEMA National Risk Index composite lands at 29.1/100 (Very Low), a modest reading against the rest of the country. Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $5.5M in annualized losses), tempered or compounded by a Very High social-vulnerability score and Relatively Low community-resilience score. Even the county's top-rated hazard, Heat Wave, only reaches Relatively Low on FEMA's scale, none of the 18 modeled hazards stand out here. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 9.7 modeled event-days per year here, based on 160 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 11 claims and $126.5K 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.
Start with the state benchmark: a Alabama county averages 25.8 federal declaration records, while Lowndes County has 20. The gap is 23% 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.
52 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Lowndes 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) Moderate
14/30
20 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.0x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
10/25
20 declarations (0.8x state county average of 26)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
10 of 20 declarations are major disasters (50%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
15/20
6 different disaster types declared in Lowndes County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Lowndes 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
50%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
29
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Lowndes 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 9.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 12 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.5 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 25 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 547 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 70 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,991 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 1.1 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 11
Severe Storm 4
Biological 2
Snowstorm 1
Drought 1
Flood 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Lowndes County's federal record, 55% 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).
Emergency - 10 50.0%
of all 20 declarations
Major Disaster - 10 50.0%
of all 20 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Show 1 earlier declaration years
| 1975 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 20 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 20 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 |
| 4573 | HURRICANE ZETA | DR | Hurricane | 2020-12-10 |
| 3545 | HURRICANE SALLY | EM | Hurricane | 2020-09-14 |
| 4503 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-29 |
| 3472 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 1593 | HURRICANE DENNIS | DR | Hurricane | 2005-07-10 |
| 1549 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-15 |
| 1250 | HURRICANE GEORGES - 18 SEP 98 | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-30 |
| 1070 | HURRICANE OPAL | DR | Hurricane | 1995-10-04 |
| 3096 | SEVERE SNOWFALL, WINTER STORM | EM | Snowstorm | 1993-03-15 |
| 861 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-03-21 |
| 3045 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-07-20 |
| 458 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-03-14 |
Storm Events in Alabama
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Lowndes 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
11
Total Paid
$126.5K
Avg Per Claim
$11.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 29.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$5.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Hail Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Winter Weather 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: Heat Wave
Heat Wave is measured in event-days per year rather than discrete events, and it is the hazard whose harm is most consistently undercounted: its toll is health and mortality, concentrated among people without cooling, rather than visible damage to property.
Worth noting for Lowndes County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Heat Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Low), 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
Lowndes County's closest FEMA peer: Howard County, TX
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Lowndes County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Lowndes County shows 20 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Lowndes County: 10 of 20 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Lowndes County: NRI composite 29.1 (Very 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 Lowndes County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Lowndes 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: 29.1 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 20. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 20 FEMA declarations, Lowndes 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).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Lowndes County?
The most common disaster type in Lowndes County is Hurricane, with 11 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (4), Biological (2), Snowstorm (1).
How does Lowndes County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Alabama average?
The typical Alabama county has 25.8 FEMA declaration records; Lowndes County has 20, or 23% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 3% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Lowndes County received?
Lowndes County has received 10 major disaster declarations, representing 50% of all 20 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Lowndes County filed?
Lowndes County has 11 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $126.5K in payments, with an average of $11.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Lowndes County?
No. In Lowndes County, Heat Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Low), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $2.1M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Lowndes County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Lowndes County was 2020, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1975 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Lowndes County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Lowndes County, Alabama has an overall risk score of 29.1 out of 100 (Very Low). Social vulnerability here rates Very High, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $5.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Lowndes County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Lowndes County is Heat Wave (risk rating: Relatively Low). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively Low) and Strong Wind (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts heat wave here at 9.7 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 160 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 Lowndes County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Alabama profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events