States › Alabama › Blount County

Blount County, Alabama

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 01009 · 59,041 residents (2021) · 645 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 124Tornado · 60Flood · 46Wind · 343Winter · 34

Blount County within Alabama. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Blount County, Alabama, has 676 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 104.8 events per 100 square miles, in line with the Alabama figure of 87.3, and 114.5 per 10,000 residents against 87.8 statewide.

19 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 5 deaths and 106 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $37M and crop damage at $1.1M.

FEMA has designated the county in 25 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Hurricane Helene (emergency, 26 Sep 2024).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 27 claims since 1978, of which 21 were paid, totalling $814K (about $39K per paid claim). FEMA counts 23 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($21M a year across 18 hazards).

16 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

19events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

676events since 19505 deaths, 106 injuries recorded

25disaster declarationslast 26 Sep 2024

27NFIP flood claims$814K paid

Compared with Alabama and the United States

Measure	Blount County	Alabama	US
Recorded events since 1950	676	44,232	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	104.8	87.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	114.5	87.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	19	1,348	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	5	941	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$37M	$12B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.5	8.9	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$39K	$34K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	21.7	21.5	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 5Wind: 2

Hail: 1

Hail: 3Tornado: 7Wind: 12

Hail: 4Tornado: 3Wind: 26

Hail: 32Tornado: 5Flood: 4Wind: 47Winter: 5Heat: 1Cold: 2Lightning: 1

Hail: 36Tornado: 11Flood: 18Wind: 92Winter: 4Tropical: 4Heat: 1Cold: 3Drought: 20Lightning: 9Other: 1

Hail: 30Tornado: 20Flood: 15Wind: 103Winter: 18Tropical: 1Heat: 2Cold: 1Drought: 9Lightning: 1Other: 2

Hail: 18Tornado: 9Flood: 9Wind: 61Winter: 7Heat: 2Drought: 9

71950s11960s221970s331980s971990s1992000s2022010s1152020s

Recorded events in Blount County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 417 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 196 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind343

Hail124

Tornado60

Flood46

Drought38

Winter34

Lightning11

Heat6

Cold6

Tropical5

Other3

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	343	—	1.6%	detail
■ Hail	124	—	1.5%	detail
■ Tornado	60	3	1.9%	detail
■ Flood	46	—	1.4%	detail
■ Drought	38	—	1.4%
■ Winter	34	—	2.3%	detail
■ Lightning	11	1	1.5%
■ Heat	6	1	0.5%
■ Cold	6	—	0.5%
■ Tropical	5	—	1.0%
■ Other	3	—	0.6%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
18 Nov 1957	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$250K	—	3	6	County
29 Jul 2002	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
12 Jul 2025	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
24 Nov 2001	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$800K	—	—	22	County
17 Aug 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	49 mph	—	—	—	12	County
27 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$20M	—	—	10	County
1 Apr 1974	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	11	County
20 Mar 1976	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	11	County
28 Nov 1994	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$500K	$5K	—	5	County
27 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$4.0M	—	—	3	County
13 Feb 1952	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$2.5M	—	—	3	County
22 Sep 2006	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$1.5M	—	—	3	County
29 Mar 1975	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$25K	—	—	3	County
15 Jun 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	70 mph	$30K	—	—	2	County
1 Dec 1985	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	2	County
23 Feb 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	2	County
28 Apr 2014	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	—	—	—	2	County
27 Mar 1994	Tornado	Tornado	F0	$500K	—	—	1	County
27 Feb 1999	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$85K	$2K	—	1	County
20 Jul 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	$30K	—	—	1	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
26 Sep 2024	EM-3618	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Helene	Public assistance
14 Sep 2020	EM-3545	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sally	Public assistance
10 Jul 2020	DR-4555	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Thunderstorms	Public assistance
21 May 2020	DR-4546	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
29 Mar 2020	DR-4503	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3472	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
17 Apr 2019	DR-4426	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Public assistance
11 Sep 2017	EM-3389	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma	Public assistance
21 Jan 2016	DR-4251	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Public assistance
2 May 2014	DR-4176	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Apr 2011	DR-1971	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 Apr 2011	EM-3319	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds	Public assistance
30 Aug 2008	EM-3292	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Gustav	Public assistance
10 Sep 2005	EM-3237	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
15 Sep 2004	DR-1549	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ivan	Individual assistance
12 May 2003	DR-1466	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance
14 Nov 2002	DR-1442	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance
7 Dec 2001	DR-1399	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
5 Mar 2001	DR-1362	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
23 Feb 1996	DR-1104	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms, Ice And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
15 Mar 1993	EM-3096	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Snowfall, Winter Storm	Public assistance
17 Feb 1990	DR-856	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
20 Jul 1977	EM-3045	Emergency	Drought	Drought	Public assistance
9 Apr 1977	DR-532	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
4 Apr 1974	DR-422	Major disaster	Tornado	Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Blount County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197827

Paid claims21

Total paid$814K

Average paid claim$39K

Repetitive-loss properties21 severe

Residential policies in force230.1% of 22,586 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	1	1	$14,813	$14,813
2021	1	1	$15,070	$15,070
2020	3	2	$25,444	$12,722
2015	4	3	$526,760	$175,587
2005	1	1	$55,733	$55,733
2001	1	1	$9,502	$9,502
2000	1	1	$3,510	$3,510
1999	1	1	$9,052	$9,052
1998	1	1	$4,345	$4,345
1997	2	1	$12,450	$12,450
1995	1	1	$22,405	$22,405
1990	2	1	$26,908	$26,908
1988	1	1	$10,206	$10,206
1987	3	3	$46,592	$15,531
1984	1	0	$0	—
1982	1	1	$1,950	$1,950
1981	1	0	$0	—
1979	1	1	$29,000	$29,000

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Lowscore 68.5 of 100

Expected annual loss$21MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceVery Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$9,905,172
Tornado	Relatively High	$6,524,394
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$1,254,175
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$965,701
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$742,006
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$687,519
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$556,657
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$221,938
Drought	Relatively Low	$161,946
Hail	Very Low	$99,834
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$93,367
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$53,931
Winter weather	Very Low	$14,330
Landslide	Relatively Low	$13,704

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles16

Tracks within 50 miles2

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Zeta	2020	98 mi	69 mph
Opal	1995	58 mi	58 mph
Juan	1985	34 mi	40 mph
Frederic	1979	82 mi	52 mph
Eloise	1975	84 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	20 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	54 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	59 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	96 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	72 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1907	76 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1906	84 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1903	99 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1898	85 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1892	50 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1881	80 mi	46 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

35121 18

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Blount County, AL?

NCEI records 124 hail events in Blount County since 1950, in 38 different years; that is about 1.6 recorded events a year. 29 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Blount County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 60 tornadoes in Blount County since 1950, 18 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 3.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Blount County?

26 Sep 2024: Hurricane Helene, a emergency declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 25 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Blount County, and how much was paid?

27 NFIP claims since 1978, 21 of them paid, for $814K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Blount County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Low" for overall risk, "Relatively Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively High" for social vulnerability and "Very Low" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Blount County compare with the rest of Alabama?

104.8 recorded events per 100 square miles against 87.3 statewide, and 0.5 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.9. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.