FEMA Records
40
Very high volume
Alabama · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Mobile County, AL
40 FEMA disaster declarations (1970-2024), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 40
- FEMA declarations
- 27
- Major disasters
- 98
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Mobile County. Its 40 FEMA declarations are 55% above the Alabama county mean and exceed the count for 97% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 2%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 2%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 40
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 15,116
- 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 01097 · Mobile County 40 declarations · rank 106/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-HIGH
- DECL-HEAVY 40
- MAJOR-MID 68%
- RANK-UPPER #106
- PHOTO-FINISH Essex
- NRI-HIGH 98
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-HIGH +55%
Nearest declaration peer: Essex, MA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Alabama state profile
Mobile County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Mobile County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Essex · near
Essex · near
40 declarations
- Mobile · this county
Mobile · this county
40 declarations
- Okfuskee · near
Okfuskee · near
40 declarations
- Tulsa · near
Tulsa · near
40 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Mobile County carries 40 FEMA declaration records, ranked 106 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Mobile County ranks in the national declaration registry
Mobile County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Mobile County
40 Top 3% higher than 97% 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
Mobile County's FEMA Risk Index score
What does Mobile County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 15,116 claims and $368.3M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $24.4K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Mobile County's 40 federal records stand 55% 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.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 98.0/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $298.2M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hurricane stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 4 years here, based on 98 historical events on record.
83 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Mobile 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
29/30
40 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density Very High
19/25
40 declarations (1.5x state county average of 26)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
27 of 40 declarations are major disasters (68%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Mobile County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Mobile 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
68%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
98
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Mobile 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Very High | roughly once every 4 years |
| Lightning | Very High | an average of 85 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 10 modeled event-days per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively High | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 241 years |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 4.8 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 17 modeled event-days per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 853 years |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 2 years |
| Landslide | Relatively 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 25
Severe Storm 9
Biological 2
Snowstorm 1
Flood 1
Drought 1
Tornado 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Mobile County's federal record, 63% 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 - 27 67.5%
of all 40 declarations
Emergency - 13 32.5%
of all 40 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 4 | |
| 2019 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 3 | |
| 2005 | 4 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
Show 12 earlier declaration years
| 1998 | 2 | |
| 1997 | 1 | |
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1985 | 1 | |
| 1981 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1970 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 40 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 40 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 |
| 4684 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-01-15 |
| 4573 | HURRICANE ZETA | DR | Hurricane | 2020-12-10 |
| 4563 | HURRICANE SALLY | DR | Hurricane | 2020-09-20 |
| 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 |
| 4406 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | DR | Hurricane | 2018-11-05 |
| 3407 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | EM | Hurricane | 2018-10-12 |
| 4349 | HURRICANE NATE | DR | Hurricane | 2017-11-16 |
| 3394 | HURRICANE NATE | EM | Hurricane | 2017-10-08 |
| 3389 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-11 |
| 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 |
| 1866 | TROPICAL STORM IDA | DR | Hurricane | 2009-12-22 |
| 1797 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING ASSOCIATED WITH HURRICANE IKE | DR | Severe Storm | 2008-09-26 |
| 1789 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | DR | Hurricane | 2008-09-10 |
| 3292 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-30 |
Show 20 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3237 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-10 |
| 1605 | HURRICANE KATRINA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-08-29 |
| 3214 | HURRICANE KATRINA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-08-28 |
| 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 |
| 1438 | TROPICAL STORM ISIDORE | DR | Hurricane | 2002-10-09 |
| 1250 | HURRICANE GEORGES - 18 SEP 98 | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-30 |
| 3133 | HURRICANE GEORGES | EM | Hurricane | 1998-09-28 |
| 1185 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING,HIGH WINDS, ASSOC WITH HURR DANNY | DR | Severe Storm | 1997-07-25 |
| 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 |
| 742 | HURRICANE ELENA | DR | Hurricane | 1985-09-07 |
| 639 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1981-05-14 |
| 619 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1980-04-20 |
| 598 | HURRICANE FREDERIC | DR | Hurricane | 1979-09-13 |
| 3045 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-07-20 |
| 369 | TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1973-03-27 |
| 280 | HURRICANE CAMILLE | DR | Hurricane | 1969-11-07 |
Storm Events in Alabama
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Mobile 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
15,116
Total Paid
$368.3M
Avg Per Claim
$24.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 98.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$298.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Very High
Lightning Very High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Tornado Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Coastal Flooding Relatively High
Drought Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively 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: Hurricane
Hurricane exposure in the model bundles the three ways a tropical system does harm, which arrive on different timescales and are insured differently: wind, storm surge on the coast, and rainfall flooding that can reach far inland well after landfall.
For Mobile County the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Very High), and Hurricane 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
Mobile County's closest FEMA peer: Tulsa County, OK
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Mobile County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Mobile County shows 40 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Mobile County: 27 of 40 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Mobile County: NRI composite 98.0 (Relatively High).
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 Mobile County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Mobile 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: 98.0 (Relatively High).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 40. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Mobile County's NFIP claims file (15,116 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 Mobile County?
The most common disaster type in Mobile County is Hurricane, with 25 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (9), Biological (2), Snowstorm (1).
How does Mobile County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Alabama average?
FEMA lists 40 declaration records for Mobile County. That is 55% above the Alabama county mean of 25.8. Its count is also 93% 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 Mobile County received?
Mobile County has received 27 major disaster declarations, representing 68% of all 40 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Mobile County filed?
Mobile County has 15,116 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $368.3M in payments, with an average of $24.4K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in Mobile County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Mobile County was 2005, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1970 to 2024.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Mobile County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Mobile County, Alabama has an overall risk score of 98.0 out of 100 (Relatively High). On social vulnerability the county rates Relatively Moderate; on community resilience, Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $298.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Mobile County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Mobile County as of the latest release is Hurricane (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Lightning (Very High) and Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 4 years, drawn from 98 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.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Mobile County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Alabama profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events