FEMA Records
26
High volume
Alabama · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Macon County, AL
26 FEMA disaster declarations (1975-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 26
- FEMA declarations
- 15
- Major disasters
- 24
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Macon County. Its 26 FEMA declarations are 1% above the Alabama county mean and exceed the count for 75% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 24%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Safer than 24%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 26
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 5
- 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 Macon County compare?
Macon County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
26 Top 25% higher than 75% 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
Macon 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 Macon County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $2.7M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Drought carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 Macon County's hazard record show?
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 26 entries for Macon County, including 15 Major Disaster records, 1% above the Alabama county mean. Across the 49-year span, that works out to 0.5 declarations a year. Severe Storm leads the file with 10 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county's FEMA National Risk Index composite lands at 23.9/100 (Very Low), a modest reading against the rest of the country. Expected Annual Loss is rated Very Low (roughly $5.4M in annualized losses), tempered or compounded by a Very High social-vulnerability score and Relatively Moderate community-resilience score. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Drought carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 48 modeled event-days per year here, based on 1,414 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 5 claims and $56.0K 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. Macon County's 26 federal records stand 1% 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.
64 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Macon 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
19/30
26 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.3x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
26 declarations (1.0x state county average of 26)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
15 of 26 declarations are major disasters (58%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Macon County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Alabama Avg
+1%
State avg: 25.8
vs. National Avg
+25%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.5
Over 49 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Macon 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
58%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
24
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Macon 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 48 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 10 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 586 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 8.7 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | an average of 67 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 785 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 10
Severe Storm 10
Biological 2
Snowstorm 1
Drought 1
Flood 1
Tornado 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Macon County's record, 38% 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 57.7%
of all 26 declarations
Emergency - 11 42.3%
of all 26 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2018 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 2 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
Show 3 earlier declaration years
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1976 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 2 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 26 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 26 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 |
| 4349 | HURRICANE NATE | DR | Hurricane | 2017-11-16 |
| 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 |
| 1466 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-05-12 |
| 1352 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2000-12-18 |
| 1108 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1996-03-20 |
| 1070 | HURRICANE OPAL | DR | Hurricane | 1995-10-04 |
Show 6 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 488 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1975-10-02 |
| 458 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1975-03-14 |
| 3007 | TORNADOES | EM | Tornado | 1975-01-18 |
Storm Events in Alabama
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Macon 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
5
Total Paid
$56.0K
Avg Per Claim
$11.2K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 23.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$5.4M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Hail Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Cold Wave 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: Drought
Drought is the slowest of the modeled hazards and the least visible: it does its damage to agriculture, water supply and soil over seasons rather than hours, so it rarely produces the kind of single-day damage that drives a disaster declaration. FEMA scores it in event-days per year rather than discrete events for exactly that reason.
Worth noting for Macon County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), while the county's declaration history is led by Severe Storm. 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
Macon County's closest FEMA peer: Hunterdon County, NJ
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Macon County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Macon County shows 26 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Macon County: 15 of 26 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Macon County: NRI composite 23.9 (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 Macon County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 26 FEMA declarations, Macon 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 Macon County?
The most common disaster type in Macon County is Severe Storm, with 10 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (10), Biological (2), Snowstorm (1).
How does Macon County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Alabama average?
FEMA lists 26 declaration records for Macon County. That is 1% above the Alabama county mean of 25.8. Its count is also 25% 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 Macon County received?
Macon County has received 15 major disaster declarations, representing 58% of all 26 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Macon County filed?
Macon County has 5 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $56.0K in payments, with an average of $11.2K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Macon County?
No. In Macon County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $2.7M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Macon County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Macon County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1975 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Macon County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Macon County, Alabama has an overall risk score of 23.9 out of 100 (Very Low). On social vulnerability the county rates Very High; on community resilience, Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $5.4M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Macon County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Macon County is Drought (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively Low) and Earthquake (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 48 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 1,414 historical events on record. FEMA derives these ratings from historical event frequency, the assets exposed, and the community's vulnerability profile.
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 Macon County
Macon County, AL has 26 federal declaration records, 1% 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 15 of 26 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 75% 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.