24 flood insurance claims·$921,468 paid·4 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Chambers County, Alabama. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding driven by slow-moving cold fronts, troughs, and heavy summer rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Chambers County, Alabama, accounting for 20 of the 29 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside tropical storms and depressions. Recent historical impacts include a multi-day severe weather event in March 2023, a late-season cold front causing heavy rainfall and flash flooding on July 9, 2022, and a stationary upper-level system that brought extensive flash flooding on October 6, 2021.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond designated high-risk areas. Properties located in moderate-to-low risk Zone X recorded 13 claims with an average payout of $59,947 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Meanwhile, properties in high-risk Zone A filed 11 claims with an average payout of $35,777 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties in Zone A due to higher average water depths, as well as properties in Zone X where significant structural damage claims have been documented despite lower average water levels.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 4 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2003, with 9 claims and $650,953 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
13 NOAA storm reports from Chambers County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 22, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Mar 24, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Jan 12, 2023 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Feb 5, 2020 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 8, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Apr 27, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
29 since 1996: 20 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 27, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 5, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 19, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 9, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 24, 2015 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Mar 27, 2023. A multi-day severe weather event produced all modes of severe weather across Central Alabama. An upper low parked over the Midwest States and an upper ridge over the Florida Peninsula produced a deep layer of moisture and shear over Alabama. A slow moving surface cold front provided the focus for severe storms late Saturday night and continuing through Monday morning.
Flash Flood · Jul 9, 2022. A late season cold front pushed southward across Central Alabama on July 9th. The air mass ahead of the front was very unstable with afternoon surface based CAPE of 4000-4500 J/kg and lifted indices around -7 Celsius. PWAT's were above two inches which also supported heavy rainfall and flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Oct 5, 2021. An upper level trough just west of the Mississippi River on October 3rd become stationary and evolved into a closed upper low by October 5th. The closed upper low remained nearly stationary for 48 hours and before finally lifting northward on October 7th. This system brought a variety of severe weather across Central Alabama over a five day period, including wind damage, large hail and extensive flash flooding. Th…
Tropical Storm · Oct 29, 2020. Tropical cyclone Zeta developed over the Western Caribbean Sea on Saturday, October 24, and slowly moved west. The tropical storm emerged into the Southern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, October 27th. Zeta turned northwest and became a hurricane on Wednesday, October 28th. Zeta made landfall in southeast Louisiana late on Wednesday, then moved northeast into southwest Alabama late Wednesday night. The hurricane weaken…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Chambers County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.