591 flood insurance claims·$17.7M 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 Coffee 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 severe weather and thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Coffee County, alongside significant tropical storm activity. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 38 flash flood events resulting in 4 deaths, alongside 11 tropical storms, 7 floods causing 2 deaths, and 1 hurricane. Recent NOAA narratives document severe impacts from these patterns, including a high-impact severe weather and flash flood event in January 2024, followed by another line of thunderstorms bringing flash flooding to southeast Alabama in March 2024. Peripheral tropical storm-force winds and effects were also experienced in September 2024 from Hurricane Helene.
NFIP claims data demonstrates that flood risks extend well beyond mapped high-risk areas. Zone A recorded 186 claims with an average payout of $20,820 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties experienced substantial impacts, logging 144 claims with an average payout of $57,644 and an average water depth of 17 inches. Shaded Zone X recorded 132 claims averaging $22,882 with 5 inches of water depth, unshaded Zone X saw 126 claims averaging $46,619 with 6 inches of water depth, and unknown zones logged 3 claims averaging $1,893 with 1 inch of water depth. Homeowners and real estate agents in both high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas and moderate-to-low risk Zone X properties should pay close attention to these patterns, as claims and high-payout flood damages frequently occur outside primary hazard zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
58% of Coffee County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
444 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 7 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 1998, with 334 claims and $13.2M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding and Hurricane Georges.
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.
39 NOAA storm reports from Coffee County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 22, 2024 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 19, 2020 |
| Hurricane Michael | Oct 10, 2018 |
| Hurricane Nate | Oct 6, 2017 |
| 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.
57 since 1996: 38 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 18, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 1, 2022 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 16, 2021 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 16, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 16, 2020 | $500,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 26, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb (27.70 inches) at about 11:10 PM EDT on Thursday, September 26th, in Taylor County Florida just east of the Aucilla River. Helene quickly moved inland across Taylor and Madison Counties before moving into Lowndes County in South Central Georgia. The hurricane produced peripheral…
Flash Flood · Mar 9, 2024. A line of thunderstorms moved through the tri-state area ahead of a cold front. Severe weather and flash flooding accompanied this line, mainly across southeast Alabama and southwest Georgia, although a few trees were also blown down in northwest Florida. One tornado was reported in Dale County, AL, and another tornado briefly occurred in northeast Leon County, FL extending into Jefferson county, FL.
Flash Flood · Jan 9, 2024. A high impact severe weather event impacted the tri-state region on January 9th with supercells producing tornadoes, large hail, and damaging wind gusts, followed by a major squall line with widespread wind damage and additional tornadoes. Preceding this activity, very strong non-thunderstorm wind gusts of 40-60 mph occurred, with even a gust to 70 mph at the Albany airport. There were 14 tornadoes confirmed acros…
Flash Flood · Mar 18, 2022. A slow moving cold front brought showers and thunderstorms to the area on March 18th. Thunderstorms trained over the same areas in some instances, resulting in flash flooding due to heavy rain amounts of 4-7 inches falling in a short period of time. In addition, there were a couple of reports of downed trees and large hail.
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 Coffee 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.