Alabama natural disasters

The state's storm and disaster record · population 5,014,878 · 67 counties and county equivalents

NOAA's Storm Events Database records 44,336 storm events in Alabama since 1950, 37,918 of them since 1996 when every event type began to be recorded, and the Storm Prediction Center counts 2,721 tornadoes in the state since 1950. The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events (20,476). In NOAA's storm record since 1950, the deadliest tornado day in Alabama was April 27, 2011: tornadoes and the storms that came with them killed 249 people in the state; the deadliest of them in Alabama, the Hackleburg/Phil Campbell tornado, killed 72 (SPC). FEMA has made 102 declarations for Alabama since 1961, 98 for natural hazards; 75 were major disasters.

The record, 1950 to 2026

Storm events recorded in Alabama each year (2026 to June 30, 2026). Before 1996 NOAA recorded only tornadoes (from 1950), thunderstorm wind and hail (from 1955).

recorded, no damage figure
under $1 million
$1 million or more
$10 million or more
$100 million or more, or 10 deaths
$1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
a year with a death
1955: wind and hail recorded from 1955
1996: all 48 event types from 1996

Storm events recorded: 44,3361950 to June 30, 2026
Deaths recorded: 1,0069,914 injuries
Damage, 2025 dollars: $21.9Bas filed (scale steps before 1993)
Tornadoes (SPC): 2,7211950 to 2025
FEMA declarations: 10275 major disasters

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026 (file revision 20260918); tornado count: NOAA Storm Prediction Center, 1950-2025; damage in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U). Search the record at NCEI.

What natural disasters happen in Alabama?

By NOAA's records, Alabama's most frequent hazards are severe thunderstorm wind events (20,476), hail reports (8,096), floods and flash floods (3,380); the deadliest are tornadoes (692 deaths). Each hazard is counted over the years NOAA has recorded it everywhere: tornadoes since 1950, hail and thunderstorm wind since 1955, everything else since 1996. Open a hazard for its years, months, counties and worst events.

Alabama: records by hazard to June 30, 2026
Hazard	Records	Last 10 years	Killed	Injured	Damage	Counties
Severe thunderstorm wind	20,476	7,473	60	561	$290M	67 of 67
Hail	8,096	1,256	0	1	$38M	67 of 67
Floods	3,380	1,183	38	25	$2.4B	67 of 67
Tornadoes	3,206	818	692	8,468	$12.3B	67 of 67
Drought	2,670	745	0	0	$181K	67 of 67
Winter storms	1,470	363	24	31	$29M	67 of 67
Heat	1,305	599	42	523	$508K	67 of 67
Extreme cold	1,134	579	9	0	$9.5M	57 of 67
High wind and dust storms	727	226	19	38	$152M	62 of 67
Lightning	716	75	40	195	$46M	63 of 67
Hurricanes and tropical storms	516	195	6	13	$6.5B	67 of 67
Fog, smoke and funnel clouds	310	31	0	29	$1.0M	60 of 67
Heavy rain	247	60	11	11	$1.1M	53 of 67
Rip currents and high surf	67	25	65	18	$11M	4 of 67
Wildfires	10	0	0	1	$139K	6 of 67
Landslides and avalanches	6	0	0	0	$178K	6 of 67

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: every record counted once in the state; "last 10 years" is 2017-2026 (2026 to June 30, 2026).

What were the deadliest disasters in Alabama?

The storms with the most deaths since 1950, from the National Weather Service's own entries. NOAA files one storm as several records when it crosses forecast zones and counties or changes type, and groups them under one episode; each row here is an episode, with its totals and the narrative of its deadliest record. Before 1996 tornado records carry no episode and stand alone. The narrative says what happened: some deaths the National Weather Service files under a weather type had another cause beside the weather.

Alabama: the 10 storm episodes with the most deaths
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2011-04-27	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Hackleburg/Phil Campbell, killed 72 (SPC) · TornadoRalph, Tuscaloosa County One named storm filed by several offices: 141 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. A powerful storm system crossed the Southeast United States on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, resulting in a large and deadly tornado outbreak. This epic event broke the record for number of tornadoes in a day for the state of Alabama, becoming the most significant tornado outbreak in the state’s history. Central Alabama ...	EF4 41.79 mi x 1,760 yd	249	2,125	$5.6B
1974-04-03	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Guin, killed 28 (SPC) · TornadoMarion County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (25, in 18 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F5 22.8 mi x 500 yd	77	927	$810M
1998-04-08	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Oak Grove/Pleasant Grove, killed 32 (SPC) · TornadoOak Grove, Jefferson County One named storm filed by several offices: 3 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. A tornado, the second spawned from the same supercell, began in rural sections of eastern Tuscaloosa County 1.5 miles east of the Warrior River. The tornado moved through primarily rural and unpopulated areas of eastern Tuscaloosa County before crossing into extreme southwestern Jefferson County. The tornado remained ...	F5 24.3 mi x 1,320 yd	34	271	$371M
1956-04-15	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Birmingham, killed 25 (SPC) · TornadoJefferson County	F4 21.3 mi x 200 yd	25	200	$2.5M step
1977-04-04	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Birmingham, killed 22 (SPC) · TornadoJefferson County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (7, in 5 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F5 14.7 mi x 550 yd	23	138	$25M step
2019-03-03	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Columbus, killed 23 (SPC) · TornadoBupree, Lee County One storm episode: 8 records in 5 places; the totals are the episode's. On the morning of Sunday March 3rd, 2019, an upper-level disturbance moved eastward from the Southern Plains into the southern Gulf Coast States. As favorable upper-level support and deep-layer forcing approached the lower Mississippi River Valley, a surface low pressure developed and moved northeastward into Central ...	EF4 23.55 mi x 1,600 yd	23	91	–
1994-03-27	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Ragland to Piedmont, killed 22 (SPC) · TornadoRagland To 5 Ne Rock, St. Clair County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (6, in 6 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's. A tornado began about one mile south-southwest of Ragland in St. Clair County at 1055 CST and traveled northeast at between 45 and 55 miles an hour crossing the Alabama/Georgia border about five miles northeast of Rock Run in Cherokee County. The tornado moved across County Highway 144 just south-southwest of Ragland ...	F4 50 mi x 880 yd	22	254	$132M
1989-11-15	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Huntsville, killed 21 (SPC) · TornadoMadison County Every tornado record filed in the state that day (5, in 4 places; before 1996 NOAA filed no storm episodes); the totals are the day's.	F4 12.5 mi x 880 yd	21	466	$250M step
2000-12-16	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Cottondale, killed 11 (SPC) · TornadoHull, Tuscaloosa County One named storm filed by several offices: 2 records in 2 episodes; the totals are the storm's. The tornado began in southwestern Tuscaloosa County on the west side of the Black Warrior River. Traveling in a northeasterly direction the tornado moved from a rural, unpopulated area of the Black Warrior River into an area of homes south of Shelton State Community College. The tornado crossed SR 69 destroying a ...	F4 18 mi x 750 yd	12	153	$26M
2002-11-10	Tornadoes of the day; the deadliest, Carbon Hill to Hanceville, killed 7 (SPC) · TornadoTownley, Walker County One named storm filed by several offices: 8 records in 3 episodes; the totals are the storm's. The Saragossa Tornado was the fourth tornado to occur in Alabama and the longest track of the severe weather episode. It began in Fayette County, just east of the Sipsey River about 6 miles north-northeast of the city of Fayette at 8:15 pm. The tornado moved northeast, crossing portions of State Routes 102 and 13, and ...	F3 24.7 mi x 1,175 yd	12	95	$14M

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed in this state, summed over the records of each episode (EPISODE_ID); a forecast-zone record counts the zone's deaths once. A tornado's whole-track deaths (SPC), on the state's tornado page, can be higher when the track crossed a state line. Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest records in Alabama

Alabama: the 8 records with the most damage since 1993, 2025 dollars
Date	Record	Character	Killed	Injured	Damage
2004-09-13	Hurricane (Typhoon)Mobile County · forecast zone Lower Mobile		0	0	$3.9B
2011-04-27	TornadoRalph, Tuscaloosa County	EF4 41.79 mi x 1,760 yd	52	800	$2.0B
2003-05-07	Flash FloodCountywide, Jefferson County		0	0	$1.6B
2005-08-27	Hurricane (Typhoon)Mobile County · forecast zone Lower Mobile		0	0	$1.5B
2011-04-27	TornadoLawngate, Limestone County	EF4 18.86 mi x 1,320 yd	4	75	$1.3B
2011-04-27	TornadoWeller, Jefferson County	EF4 32.53 mi x 2,600 yd	20	700	$918M
1998-04-08	TornadoOak Grove, Jefferson County	F5 24.3 mi x 1,320 yd	32	258	$366M
2007-03-01	TornadoEnterprise Municipal Airport, Coffee County	EF4 10.33 mi x 500 yd	9	50	$356M

Before 1993 NOAA filed damage by category, not amount, so the list above starts in 1993. The highest category filed here before then (entered as $250M, in the dollars of the day) holds: November 15, 1989 (tornado, Madison County, 21 killed); November 15, 1989 (tornado, Madison County).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars with the BLS CPI-U. BLS consumer price index.

Which counties in Alabama have the most records?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950 attributed to each county (forecast-zone records count on every county the zone covers).

Every county in Alabama

Billion-dollar disasters in Alabama

NOAA counted 116 weather or climate disasters from 1980-2024 that cost at least $1 billion (adjusted for inflation) and affected Alabama, led by severe storm (58). The most recent: Hurricane Helene (2024); Hurricane Francine (2024); Southern Derecho (2024).

Alabama: billion-dollar disasters by type, 1980-2024
Type	Events	Total cost (NOAA's range)
Severe Storm	58	$10.0B-$20.0B
Tropical Cyclone	26	$20.0B-$50.0B
Drought	16	$5.0B-$10.0B
Winter Storm	9	$2.0B-$5.0B
Freeze	3	$100M-$250M
Flooding	2	$100M-$250M
Wildfire	2	$500M-$1.0B

Every one of the 116, newest first

Hurricane Helene2024
Hurricane Francine2024
Southern Derecho2024
Central, Southern, Southeastern Tornado Outbreak2024
Southern and Eastern Severe Weather2024
Southern Severe Weather2024
Southern Tornado Outbreak and East Coast Storm2024
Northeastern and Eastern Severe Weather2023
North Central and Southeastern Severe Weather2023
Central and Southern Severe Weather2023
Southern Severe Weather2023
Southern/Midwestern Drought and Heatwave2023
Southern and Eastern Severe Weather2023
Southern and Eastern Severe Weather2023
Central and Eastern Winter Storm and Cold Wave2022
Southeast Tornado Outbreak2022
Southern Tornado Outbreak2022
Hurricane Nicholas2021
Hurricane Ida2021
Tropical Storm Fred2021
Southern Tornadoes and Southeast Severe Weather2021
Eastern Severe Weather2021
Southeast Tornadoes and Severe Weather2021
Hurricane Zeta2020
Hurricane Delta2020
Hurricane Sally2020
South, Central and Eastern Severe Weather2020
Southern Severe Weather2020
Southeast and Eastern Tornado Outbreak2020
Tennessee Tornadoes and Southeast Severe Weather2020
South, East and Northeast Severe Weather2020
Southeast Tornadoes and Northern Storms and Flooding2020
South and Southeast Severe Weather2019
Southern and Eastern Tornadoes and Severe Weather2019
Southeast, Ohio Valley and Northeast Severe Weather2019
Hurricane Michael2018
Central and Eastern Tornadoes and Severe Weather2018
Southern and Eastern Tornadoes and Severe Weather2018
Southeastern Tornadoes and Severe Weather2018
Hurricane Irma2017
Hurricane Harvey2017
Missouri and Arkansas Flooding and Central Severe Weather2017
Southeast Severe Weather and Tornadoes2017
South/Southeast Severe Weather2017
Southeast Freeze2017
Central/Southeast Tornado Outbreak2017
Southern Tornado Outbreak and Western Storms2017
Western/Southeast Wildfires2016
Southeast and Eastern Tornadoes2016
West/Northeast/Southeast Drought2016
South and Southeast Severe Weather2015
South/Southeast Severe Weather2015
Midwest/Southeast/Northeast Tornadoes and Flooding2014
Midwest/Southeast/Northeast Winter Storm2014
Southeast Severe Weather2013
Hurricane Isaac2012
Southeast/Ohio Valley Tornadoes2012
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave2012
Tropical Storm Lee2011
Southeast/Ohio Valley/Midwest Tornadoes2011
Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes2011
Southeast/Midwest Tornadoes2011
Southern Plains/Southwest Drought and Heat Wave2011
Midwest, South and East Severe Weather2009
South/Southeast Severe Weather and Tornadoes2009
Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes2009
Hurricane Ike2008
Hurricane Gustav2008
Southeast Tornadoes and Severe Weather2008
U.S. Drought2008
Western/Eastern Drought/Heat Wave2007
Spring Freeze2007
Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes2006
Severe Storms and Tornadoes2006
Midwest/Plains/Southeast Drought2006
Hurricane Rita2005
Hurricane Katrina2005
Hurricane Dennis2005
Southeast Severe Weather2005
Hurricane Ivan2004
Southern Derecho and Eastern Severe Weather2003
Severe Storms/Tornadoes2003
Severe Storms/Hail2003
Eastern Tornadoes and Severe Storms2002
Tropical Storm Isidore2002
Western Fire Season2002
Western/Central/Southeast Drought/Heat Wave2000
Southeast Winter Storm2000
Eastern Drought/Heat Wave1999
Oklahoma and Kansas Tornadoes1999
Central and Eastern Winter Storm1999
Hurricane Georges1998
Southern Drought and Heat Wave1998
Western/Eastern Severe Weather and Flooding1997
Hurricane Opal1995
Hurricane Erin1995
Central, Southern and Northeast Drought/Heat Wave1995
Tropical Storm Alberto1994
Southeast Ice Storm1994
Southeast Drought and Heat Wave1993
East Coast Blizzard and Severe Weather1993
Southeast Severe Weather1992
Severe Storms, Tornadoes1991
Winter Storm, Cold Wave1989
U.S. Drought/Heat Wave1988
Southeast Drought/Heat Wave1986
Hurricane Juan1985
Hurricane Elena1985
Winter Storm, Cold Wave1985
Freeze/Cold Wave1983
Southeast Drought1983
Gulf States Storms and Flooding1982
Midwest/Plains/Southeast Tornadoes1982
Midwest/Southeast/Northeast Winter Storm, Cold Wave1982
Severe Storms, Flash Floods, Hail, Tornadoes1981
Central/Eastern Drought/Heat Wave1980

Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters, state summary for Alabama, 1980-2024 (NCEI's last update; the product is archived). A disaster that affected several states counts in each. NCEI billion-dollar disasters.

Federal disaster declarations in Alabama

FEMA has made 102 declarations for Alabama since 1961: 75 major disasters, 18 emergencies and 9 fire management assistance declarations. The most common incident types are severe storm (45), hurricane (25), flood (10).

1960s 2
1970s 15
1980s 7
1990s 24
2000s 24
2010s 15
2020s 15

The 15 most recent declarations in Alabama
Declared	Number	Type	Title	Areas named
2024-09-26	EM-3618	Hurricane	Hurricane Helene	67
2023-05-05	DR-4710	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes	10
2023-01-15	DR-4684	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes	13
2021-12-21	DR-4632	Severe Storm	Severe Storms and Flooding	2
2021-04-26	DR-4596	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes	8
2021-03-28	DR-4591	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	1
2020-12-10	DR-4573	Hurricane	Hurricane Zeta	21
2020-09-20	DR-4563	Hurricane	Hurricane Sally	15
2020-09-14	EM-3545	Hurricane	Hurricane Sally	68
2020-07-10	DR-4555	Severe Storm	Severe Thunderstorms	7
2020-07-10	DR-4554	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes	10
2020-05-21	DR-4546	Severe Storm	Severe Storms and Flooding	19
2020-03-29	DR-4503	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	69
2020-03-13	EM-3528	Biological	Covid-19	1
2020-03-13	EM-3472	Biological	Covid-19	68

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Flood insurance claims in Alabama

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $1.2 billion on 44,088 claims in 64 Alabama counties. Claims count insured losses only.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk across Alabama's counties

How FEMA's National Risk Index rates Alabama's counties overall: a model of expected future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of events.

Relatively High 4
Relatively Moderate 15
Relatively Low 31
Very Low 17

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.