States › Alabama › Perry County

Perry 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 01105 · 8,355 residents (2021) · 720 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 47Tornado · 41Flood · 10Wind · 71Winter · 8

Perry 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.

Between 1950 and 2026, NCEI recorded 240 storm events in Perry County, Alabama, led by damaging wind.

That is 33.3 events per 100 square miles, below the Alabama figure of 87.3, and 287.3 per 10,000 residents against 87.8 statewide.

10 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 1 death and 6 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $36M and crop damage at $1.3M.

FEMA has designated the county in 24 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Hurricane Helene (emergency, 26 Sep 2024).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 2 claims since 1978, of which 2 were paid, totalling $7K (about $4K per paid claim). FEMA counts 2 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($4.1M a year across 18 hazards).

38 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.

10events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

240events since 19501 death, 6 injuries recorded

24disaster declarationslast 26 Sep 2024

2NFIP flood claims$7K paid

Compared with Alabama and the United States

Measure	Perry County	Alabama	US
Recorded events since 1950	240	44,232	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	33.3	87.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	287.3	87.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	10	1,348	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	1	941	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$36M	$12B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.2	8.9	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$4K	$34K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	0.0	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

Hail: 1Tornado: 3Wind: 3

Tornado: 3Wind: 1

Hail: 2Wind: 5

Hail: 2Tornado: 1Flood: 1Wind: 9Winter: 2Heat: 1Cold: 2

Hail: 33Tornado: 7Flood: 4Wind: 18Winter: 2Tropical: 4Heat: 1Cold: 3Drought: 20Other: 1

Hail: 5Tornado: 16Flood: 5Wind: 22Winter: 4Heat: 4Cold: 1Drought: 9

Hail: 4Tornado: 11Wind: 13Tropical: 1Heat: 4Drought: 12

01950s71960s41970s71980s181990s932000s662010s452020s

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

Trend: 153 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 69 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

Wind71

Hail47

Tornado41

Drought41

Flood10

Heat10

Winter8

Cold6

Tropical5

Other1

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	71	—	0.3%	detail
■ Hail	47	—	0.6%	detail
■ Tornado	41	—	1.3%	detail
■ Drought	41	—	1.5%
■ Flood	10	—	0.3%	detail
■ Heat	10	—	0.8%
■ Winter	8	1	0.5%
■ Cold	6	—	0.5%
■ Tropical	5	—	1.0%
■ Other	1	—	0.2%

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
28 Jan 2014	Winter Storm	Winter	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
27 May 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$25M	—	—	—	County
11 Dec 1961	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	2	County
20 Sep 1979	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	2	County
17 Dec 1961	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25K	—	—	1	County
2 Feb 1987	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	1	County
16 Sep 2004	High Wind	Wind	90 mph	$3.5M	$200K	—	—	Forecast zone
6 Mar 1967	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
27 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$1.3M	—	—	—	County
7 Mar 1996	Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	—	$1.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
29 Aug 2005	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$1.0M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
27 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$645K	—	—	—	County
22 Apr 1974	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	—	County
2 May 2003	Hail	Hail	1.75 in	$250K	—	—	—	County
10 Jul 2005	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$240K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
10 Apr 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	$150K	—	—	—	County
13 Oct 2001	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$110K	—	—	—	County
3 May 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	69 mph	$100K	—	—	—	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
26 Apr 2021	DR-4596	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Dec 2020	DR-4573	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Zeta	Individual assistance, Public assistance
14 Sep 2020	EM-3545	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sally	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
8 Oct 2017	EM-3394	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Nate	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	Public assistance
21 Sep 2012	DR-4082	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Isaac	Public assistance
1 Feb 2012	DR-4052	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual 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
28 Apr 2009	DR-1835	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes & Straight-Line	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
29 Aug 2005	DR-1605	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina	Public assistance
10 Jul 2005	DR-1593	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Dennis	Public assistance
15 Sep 2004	DR-1549	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ivan	Individual assistance, Public assistance
15 Mar 1993	EM-3096	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Snowfall, Winter Storm	Public assistance
20 Jul 1977	EM-3045	Emergency	Drought	Drought	Public assistance
29 May 1973	DR-388	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	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 Perry County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19782

Paid claims2

Total paid$7K

Average paid claim$4K

Repetitive-loss properties0

Residential policies in force20.1% of 4,393 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
1990	2	2	$7,315	$3,657

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 riskVery Lowscore 18.8 of 100

Expected annual loss$4.1MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityVery High

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Very Low	$1,581,527
Tornado	Relatively Low	$829,207
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$336,318
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$324,762
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$284,209
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$209,584
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$180,514
Drought	Relatively Low	$173,368
Cold wave	Very Low	$156,987
Hail	Very Low	$39,580
Ice storm	Very Low	$5,622
Wildfire	Very Low	$5,614
Landslide	Very Low	$1,488
Winter weather	Very Low	$1,360

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 miles38

Tracks within 50 miles9

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Sally	2020	80 mi	40 mph
Zeta	2020	16 mi	69 mph
Nate	2017	51 mi	40 mph
Lee	2011	98 mi	46 mph
Dennis	2005	82 mi	52 mph
Ivan	2004	11 mi	81 mph
Opal	1995	74 mi	58 mph
Juan	1985	60 mi	46 mph
Frederic	1979	87 mi	75 mph
Eloise	1975	96 mi	63 mph
Baker	1950	74 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1939	78 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1936	63 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	11 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1919	99 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	45 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	72 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	92 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1912	15 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1912	74 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1907	41 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1906	96 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1903	83 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1902	82 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1901	60 mi	52 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.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Perry County, AL?

NCEI records 47 hail events in Perry County since 1950, in 18 different years; that is about 0.6 recorded events a year. 15 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Perry County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 41 tornadoes in Perry County since 1950, 12 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Perry County?

26 Sep 2024: Hurricane Helene, a emergency declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 24 declarations since 1953.

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

2 NFIP claims since 1978, 2 of them paid, for $7K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Perry County compare with the rest of Alabama?

33.3 recorded events per 100 square miles against 87.3 statewide, and 0.2 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.