States › Alabama › St. Clair County

St. Clair 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 01115 · 92,748 residents (2021) · 632 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 113Tornado · 44Flood · 34Wind · 285Winter · 21

St. Clair 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 29 Sep 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

St. Clair County, Alabama, has 559 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 88.5 events per 100 square miles, in line with the Alabama figure of 87.3, and 60.3 per 10,000 residents against 87.8 statewide.

11 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 45 deaths and 284 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $241M and crop damage at $51M.

FEMA has designated the county in 30 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Hurricane Helene (emergency, 26 Sep 2024).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 96 claims since 1978, of which 64 were paid, totalling $1.4M (about $22K per paid claim). FEMA counts 301 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" ($33M a year across 18 hazards).

22 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.

11events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

559events since 195045 deaths, 284 injuries recorded

30disaster declarationslast 26 Sep 2024

96NFIP flood claims$1.4M paid

Compared with Alabama and the United States

Measure	St. Clair County	Alabama	US
Recorded events since 1950	559	44,232	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	88.5	87.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	60.3	87.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	11	1,348	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	45	941	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$241M	$12B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	1.0	8.9	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$22K	$34K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	3.3	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: 8

Hail: 2Tornado: 8Wind: 9

Hail: 5Tornado: 1Wind: 24

Hail: 17Tornado: 4Flood: 3Wind: 27Winter: 4Heat: 1Cold: 2Other: 1

Hail: 51Tornado: 14Flood: 18Wind: 90Winter: 3Tropical: 4Heat: 1Cold: 3Drought: 20Lightning: 1Other: 3

Hail: 27Tornado: 10Flood: 6Wind: 66Winter: 11Heat: 2Cold: 1Drought: 12Lightning: 1

Hail: 10Tornado: 4Flood: 7Wind: 61Winter: 3Tropical: 1Heat: 2Drought: 5Lightning: 2

01950s121960s191970s301980s591990s2082000s1362010s952020s

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

Trend: 336 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 165 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

Wind285

Hail113

Tornado44

Drought37

Flood34

Winter21

Heat6

Cold6

Tropical5

Lightning4

Other4

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	285	5	1.3%	detail
■ Hail	113	—	1.4%	detail
■ Tornado	44	39	1.4%	detail
■ Drought	37	—	1.4%
■ Flood	34	1	1.0%	detail
■ Winter	21	—	1.4%	detail
■ Heat	6	—	0.5%
■ Cold	6	—	0.5%
■ Tropical	5	—	1.0%
■ Lightning	4	—	0.6%
■ Other	4	—	0.8%

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
27 Mar 1994	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$500K	$50M	22	150	County
27 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF4	$200M	—	13	30	County
4 Jul 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	46 mph	$23K	—	3	4	County
8 Apr 1998	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.0M	$5K	2	12	County
10 Jan 1975	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$2.5M	—	1	60	County
24 Nov 2004	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$400K	—	1	—	County
4 Apr 1977	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	1	—	County
27 Apr 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	90 mph	—	—	1	—	County
27 Apr 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	90 mph	—	—	1	—	County
3 Feb 1990	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$2.5M	—	—	11	County
27 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$865K	—	—	5	County
27 May 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$25M	—	—	—	County
24 Nov 2001	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$500K	—	—	2	County
16 Dec 2000	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$175K	—	—	2	County
8 Aug 2007	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	—	2	Forecast zone
29 Jun 2025	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	2	County
21 Jun 1984	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	1	County
29 Apr 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	1	County
12 Apr 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	1	County
1 May 2025	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	—	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
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
26 Apr 2018	DR-4362	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	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
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, Public 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
18 Dec 2000	DR-1352	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Apr 1998	DR-1214	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
4 Oct 1995	DR-1070	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Opal	Individual assistance, Public assistance
30 Mar 1994	DR-1019	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornado, 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
18 Apr 1979	DR-578	Major disaster	Flood	Storms, Wind, Flooding	Individual 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
2 Oct 1975	DR-488	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
14 Mar 1975	DR-458	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Jan 1975	EM-3007	Emergency	Tornado	Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
29 May 1973	DR-388	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 Mar 1973	DR-369	Major disaster	Tornado	Tornadoes & 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 St. Clair County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197896

Paid claims64

Total paid$1.4M

Average paid claim$22K

Repetitive-loss properties71 severe

Residential policies in force3010.9% of 33,512 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2024	1	1	$23,558	$23,558
2021	3	2	$181,716	$90,858
2020	2	2	$25,258	$12,629
2019	3	1	$426,641	$426,641
2018	1	0	$0	—
2016	1	0	$0	—
2015	8	6	$109,350	$18,225
2014	4	2	$22,542	$11,271
2013	5	4	$79,840	$19,960
2012	1	0	$0	—
2011	3	3	$34,325	$11,442
2009	11	7	$54,875	$7,839
2008	2	1	$5,761	$5,761
2005	3	3	$117,042	$39,014
2004	6	3	$64,938	$21,646
2003	16	11	$168,538	$15,322
2002	1	1	$16,252	$16,252
2001	1	1	$5,983	$5,983
2000	3	2	$13,571	$6,785
1999	1	0	$0	—
1997	1	1	$1,465	$1,465
1996	1	1	$836	$836
1995	4	2	$6,425	$3,213
1990	2	1	$4,648	$4,648
1985	1	0	$0	—

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 72.1 of 100

Expected annual loss$33MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Low

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$17,629,592
Tornado	Relatively High	$8,686,294
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$1,649,947
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$1,211,609
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$1,135,388
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$1,049,233
Lightning	Relatively Moderate	$540,040
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$209,554
Hurricane	Very Low	$150,780
Hail	Very Low	$131,386
Drought	Relatively Low	$102,842
Ice storm	Relatively Low	$57,743
Landslide	Relatively Low	$31,979
Winter weather	Very Low	$16,671

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 miles22

Tracks within 50 miles4

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Zeta	2020	94 mi	69 mph
Opal	1995	36 mi	58 mph
Juan	1985	27 mi	40 mph
Frederic	1979	99 mi	52 mph
Eloise	1975	61 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	6 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	40 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	75 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	77 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	93 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1907	57 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1906	61 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1903	77 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1902	87 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1898	86 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1898	66 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1893	85 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1892	69 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1887	99 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1881	82 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1859	97 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1852	98 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

35054 15
35125 14
35128 14
35004 13
35120 12
35146 7
35135 5
35953 5

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 St. Clair County, AL?

NCEI records 113 hail events in St. Clair County since 1950, in 31 different years; that is about 1.5 recorded events a year. 24 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has St. Clair County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 44 tornadoes in St. Clair County since 1950, 16 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 39.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for St. Clair County?

26 Sep 2024: Hurricane Helene, a emergency declaration for hurricane. The county appears in 30 declarations since 1953.

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

96 NFIP claims since 1978, 64 of them paid, for $1.4M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is St. Clair 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 Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Moderate" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does St. Clair County compare with the rest of Alabama?

88.5 recorded events per 100 square miles against 87.3 statewide, and 1.0 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 29 Sep 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 30 Sep 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.