1 flood insurance claims·$0 paid·7 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 Clay 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 from heavy rainfall and slow-moving weather systems dominates the flood risk in Clay County. Over the last 30 years, recorded events include 19 flash floods resulting in 1 death, alongside 5 tropical storms, 2 tropical depressions, and 2 general floods.
Severe weather patterns drive these incidents, as demonstrated by specific historical events. A multi-day severe weather event in March 2023 featured a slow-moving surface cold front that brought heavy rainfall and flash flooding. Similarly, heavy rainfall and severe storms affected the area on February 5th and 6th, 2020, as impulses from an upper trough yielded flooding alongside tornadoes and damaging winds. Tropical systems also impact the region, such as Tropical Storm Zeta in October 2020 and the remnants of Hurricane Irma in September 2017, both of which brought steady rains and gusty winds from landfalls originating in the Gulf of Mexico and Florida.
NFIP insurance claim data shows 1 claim filed in Zone V, with an average payout of $0 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties vulnerable to rapid rainfall accumulation, flash flooding, and severe storm impacts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11 NOAA storm reports from Clay County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 22, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Mar 25, 2021 |
| Hurricane Zeta | Oct 28, 2020 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 15, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 27, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2017 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 8, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 7, 2014 | — |
| Flood | Dec 22, 2013 | — |
— = 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.
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…
Flood · Feb 6, 2020. Heavy rainfall and severe storms affected Central Alabama on February 5th and 6th as several impulses emanated from a deep upper trough centered over the central United States. This event yielded tornadoes, damaging winds, and flooding.||The northward progression of a warm front allowed a seasonably warm and moist air mass to overspread the region on Wednesday, February 5th, with afternoon temperatures in the 70s…
Tropical Storm · Sep 11, 2017. Hurricane Irma made landfall on the west coast of the Florida peninsula on September 10th. The hurricane tracked northward across Florida and weakened into a tropical storm on September 11th as it moved into southwest Georgia Tropical Storm Warnings were in effect for east central Alabama as Tropical Storm Irma approached east Alabama. Steady rains overspread the region by early morning, with breezy and gusty win…
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 Clay 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.