FEMA flood zones · Alabama

Conecuh County, Alabama Flood Zone Map

3 flood insurance claims·$62,490 paid·7 federal flood & hurricane disasters

9% of Conecuh County’s area is in FEMA’s high-risk flood zones.

Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.

Coastal high risk (V, VE)FloodwayHigh risk (A, AE)Moderate (X, 500-year)Minimal (X)Undetermined (D)

Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Conecuh 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.

How Conecuh County floods

Flash flooding from severe weather and inland impacts from slow-moving tropical systems dominate the flood risk profile in Conecuh County, which recorded 14 flash floods, 4 tropical storms, and 3 hurricanes over the last 30 years. Heavy rainfall from an unstable airmass caused notable flooding across the area on February 3, 2022. Additionally, Hurricane Sally brought severe inland flooding to southwest Alabama in September 2020 due to its slow movement, and Hurricane Zeta caused rapid impacts as it raced across the region in October 2020.

National Flood Insurance Program records indicate historical claims spanning different risk levels, including Zone V properties which recorded an average payout of $31,245 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in designated coastal or high-risk zones, as well as areas susceptible to sudden flash flooding during severe summer and frontal weather patterns.

Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.

How deep the water got

outlet80″ door12″24″36″48″60″72″84″

In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 9 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.

In their words

4 NOAA storm reports from Conecuh County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →

Federal disasters

27 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.

DisasterBegan
Hurricane HeleneSep 22, 2024
Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And TornadoesJan 12, 2023
Hurricane SallySep 14, 2020
Hurricane MichaelOct 10, 2018
Hurricane NateOct 6, 2017
Hurricane IrmaSep 8, 2017
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And FloodingDec 23, 2015
Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-line WindsApr 27, 2011

Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.

Recorded flood events

21 since 1996: 14 flash floods.

EventDateDamage
Flash FloodJun 18, 2023—
Flash FloodFeb 3, 2022$50,000
Tropical StormOct 28, 2020—
Tropical StormSep 15, 2020—
Flash FloodMay 14, 2014—
Flash FloodMay 14, 2014$100,000
Flash FloodDec 14, 2009—
Flash FloodApr 14, 2007—

— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

From the storm reports

Flash Flood · Jun 18, 2023. Unusually strong wind shear combined with strong instability and numerous disturbances led to a very active period of severe weather through the month of June. Numerous reports of large hail and damaging winds were recorded along with a few tornadoes.

Flash Flood · Feb 3, 2022. A very moist and unstable airmass developed ahead of an approaching cold front. Storms developed along the front and produced damaging wind gusts as they moved across southeast Mississippi and southwest Alabama. Heavy rain caused flooding across portions of the area.

Tropical Storm · Oct 28, 2020. Hurricane Zeta made landfall in southeast Louisiana during the late afternoon hours of Wednesday, October 28th as a strong category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. Zeta quickly raced northeast and moved across inland southeast Mississippi and inland southwest Alabama during the evening hours. Shortly after midnight, Thursday, October 29th, Zeta weakened to a tropical storm while moving across…

Tropical Storm · Sep 15, 2020. Hurricane Sally made landfall in Gulf Shores, AL at 5am on Wednesday, September 16th as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. Sally produced widespread wind, storm surge, and freshwater flooding across coastal AL and the western Florida Panhandle. Flood and wind damage also extended well inland into inland southwest Alabama and south central Alabama. Sally was an extremely slow mov…

National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.

The zones you’ll see on the map

Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.

Cross-section of a river floodplainDiagram: a river valley. The floodway is the channel and the land beside it; the 1%-annual-chance flood surface (the base flood elevation) covers the valley floor as zone A or AE; a narrow band higher up is shaded X, the 0.2% floodplain; higher ground is X.0.2% CHANCE A YEAR (500-YEAR)BASE FLOOD ELEVATION · 1% A YEARXAEFloodwayAEX
  1. A / AE Inside the 1%-a-year floodplain: about a 26% chance of flooding over a 30-year mortgage. AE has a mapped base flood elevation; plain A does not.
  2. Floodway The channel and the land beside it that has to be kept clear enough to carry the flood. Building here is tightly limited.
  3. X shaded The 0.2% (500-year) floodplain, plus some levee-protected and very shallow flood areas.
  4. X Outside both lines. No federal requirement to insure, which is not the same as no risk.

Every flood zone code explained →

Flood insurance in Conecuh County

If a building in Conecuh 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.