Alabama floods
Every recorded flood since 1996 · 67 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 3,380 floods and flash floods in Alabama from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 120 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the March 8, 1998 flash flood in Coffee County: 4 deaths and $190 million in damage in 2025 dollars. Alabama ranks 24th of 52 states and territories by count and 27th of 51 per square mile.
Floods in Alabama, 1996 to 2026
Flood records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- 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
- Records
- 3,3801996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 120average
- Deaths
- 3825 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $2.4Bas filed
- Busiest year
- 2009292 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are floods and flash floods common in Alabama?
Alabama averages about 120 floods and flash floods a year since 2000, 24th of 52 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2009 (292). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Alabama records 667 floods and flash floods since 1996, 27th of 51 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in Alabama have the most floods and flash floods?
Per square mile, Lauderdale County leads Alabama: 99 days with a flood since 1996, 148.2 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Madison County has the most flood records (247 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is flood season in Alabama?
Alabama's floods and flash floods by month. The busiest month is February (385 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 238 · Feb 385 · Mar 368 · Apr 349 · May 361 · Jun 307 · Jul 348 · Aug 263 · Sep 380 · Oct 93 · Nov 85 · Dec 203 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest floods and flash floods in Alabama?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-03-08 | Flash FloodElba, Coffee County A vigorous Gulf storm dumped up to 14 inches of rain across the northern half of Coffee County. The earthen levee on the Beaver Dam Creek breached. A six foot wall of water rushed into the city of Elba. Two thousand residents were forced to evacuate. Nearly 400 homes and businesses sustained flood damage. ... | 4 | 0 | $190M | |
| 2022-03-22 | Flash FloodCoker, Tuscaloosa County Significant flooding across the city of Tuscaloosa and surrounding communities. Water rescues performed at several residences along Hunter Creek and vehicles submerged. Three fatalities in a submerged vehicle, one male and two females. The vehicle they were riding in left the roadway and into drainage ditch near the ... | 3 | 0 | – | |
| 2009-01-06 | Flash FloodPickensville, Pickens County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A slow moving frontal system caused several large areas of showers and thunderstorms to move across Central Alabama, during the period from January 5 to January 7. Some of the thunderstorms became severe, producing sporadic wind damage. Storm total rainfall from the storms ranged from 1 to 3 inches south of Interstate ... | 2 | 1 | $619K | |
| 2021-10-06 | Flash FloodElvira, Shelby County During the evening of the 6th, a north to south low-level boundary set up along the Interstate 65 corridor that became the focus for back-building thunderstorms and heavy rainfall. Over the course of just a few hours, a wide swath of 6-10 inches of rain occurred. Numerous roads became submerged and impassable. ... | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 2021-10-06 | Flash FloodNorth Arab, Marshall County One storm episode: 2 records; the totals are the episode's. Showers and thunderstorms erupted across the Tennessee Valley on October 6th, repeatedly moving across Marshall County, which caused widespread flash flooding. Numerous roadways were washed out across Arab, and sadly, 2 fatalities occurred during this flood event (one of which was a child swept away in a vehicle). | 2 | 0 | – | |
| 2015-12-24 | FloodRoeton, Coffee County One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. An anomalous upper level pattern developed across the country with a large upper level trough remaining nearly stationary west of the area for several days. Continuous southwest flow brought unseasonably warm temperatures and high moisture content across the area. Excessive rainfall amounts occurred during the last ... | 2 | 0 | $4.2M | |
| 2019-12-29 | Flash FloodAnderson, Lauderdale County Three vehicles were swept by flash flooding on Anderson Creek along CR 50 and CR 52. A 20 year old woman was killed in the vehicle. Two others including the victim's mother in the other vehicles were rescued. Time of occurrence from Times Daily news article. | 1 | 2 | – | |
| 2014-04-29 | Flash FloodSpanish Ft, Baldwin County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. A strong storm system brought record flooding along with severe thunderstorms that produced damaging winds and tornadoes to the region. | 1 | 1 | $42M | |
| 2025-08-03 | Flash FloodRanburne, Cleburne County One storm episode: 6 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. Slow-moving thunderstorms occurred during the afternoon of August 1. One storm dumped 2-3 of rain over a localized area of Vestavia Hills and northern Hoover in less than an hour, resulting in numerous street flooding issues along Highway 31 and nearby roadways. The next day, heavy rainfall developed along a boundary ... | 1 | 1 | – | |
| 2022-03-16 | Flash FloodBrownville, Jefferson County A cluster of slow moving thunderstorms developed over the Birmingham metro area and produced flash flooding. Numerous roads were impassible and vehicles were flooded in the downtown area and near the University of Alabama-Birmingham campus. Flash flooding was also reported in the city of Homewood along Shades Creek ... | 1 | 1 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest floods and flash floods in Alabama
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-05-07 | Flash FloodCountywide, Jefferson County | 0 | 0 | $1.6B | |
| 1998-03-08 | FloodDale County · forecast zone Dale One storm episode: 4 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $416M | |
| 1998-03-08 | Flash FloodElba, Coffee County | 4 | 0 | $190M | |
| 2014-04-29 | Flash FloodSpanish Ft, Baldwin County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 1 | 1 | $42M | |
| 1998-09-28 | Hurricane Georges · Flash FloodElba, Coffee County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $34M | |
| 1998-03-08 | Flash FloodCountywide, Covington County One storm episode: 7 records in 7 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $20M | |
| 2009-05-07 | Flash FloodMontgomery County One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 1 | 0 | $9.9M | |
| 2002-09-22 | Flash FloodCountywide, Jefferson County One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $9.8M |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are floods and flash floods becoming more frequent in Alabama?
Alabama's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | Alabama | United States | Alabama's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 228 | 20,986 | 1.1% |
| 2000s | 1,143 | 54,913 | 2.1% |
| 2010s | 1,200 | 68,322 | 1.8% |
| 2020-26 | 809 | 43,563 | 1.9% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent floods and flash floods in Alabama
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-20 | Flash FloodQuito, Shelby County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-20 | Flash FloodDrummond, Walker County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-20 | Flash FloodJacksons Gap, Tallapoosa County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-20 | Flash FloodCooley, Jefferson County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-19 | Flash FloodFostoria, Lowndes County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-19 | Flash FloodChina Grove, Pike County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-18 | Flash FloodHeadland, Henry County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-18 | Flash FloodHighway 231 Pea River Bridge, Dale County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-18 | FloodAyres, Jefferson County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-09 | Flash FloodAuburn, Lee County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-07 | Flash FloodWoodward, Jefferson County | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-06-07 | Flash FloodIvalee, Etowah County | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for floods and flash floods in Alabama
FEMA has declared 42 disasters in Alabama for floods and flash floods, counting its incident type and declarations that name flood in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 41 were major disasters, the latest on December 21, 2021.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-12-21 | DR-4632 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 2 |
| 2020-05-21 | DR-4546 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 19 |
| 2019-04-17 | DR-4426 | Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding | 12 |
| 2016-01-21 | DR-4251 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 39 |
| 2014-05-02 | DR-4176 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 21 |
| 2012-02-01 | DR-4052 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 3 |
| 2011-04-28 | DR-1971 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 67 |
| 2010-05-03 | DR-1908 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding | 3 |
| 2009-12-31 | DR-1870 | Severe Storms and Flooding | 14 |
| 2009-06-03 | DR-1842 | Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Straight-Line Winds | 4 |
| 2009-05-08 | DR-1836 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds | 6 |
| 2009-04-28 | DR-1835 | Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes & Straight-Line | 21 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Lauderdale County: the county's whole recordThe Alabama county with the most floods and flash floods per square mile
- Floods across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in AlabamaTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
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