66 flood insurance claims·$1.1M paid·6 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 Elmore 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 thunderstorms dominates the flood history of Elmore County, supplemented by tropical systems and general flooding events. According to NOAA data from the last 30 years, flash floods account for 43 events, alongside 5 tropical storms, 4 floods, and 3 tropical depressions that resulted in 1 death. Recent severe weather events illustrate this risk, including heavy rainfall from a thunderstorm line on January 9, 2024, that caused flooding across Autauga and Elmore counties, and isolated flooding on August 23, 2025, that brought minor flooding to Highway 14 west of Wetumpka after a couple of inches of rain fell.
Federal insurance claims data shows that flood risks extend beyond designated high-risk areas. Properties in Zone A experienced 41 claims with an average payout of $23,544 and an average recorded water depth of 18 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 17 claims with a higher average payout of $36,128 and an average recorded water depth of 16 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in both high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas and moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas should pay close attention to these historical claim patterns and water depths when evaluating property risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
6% of Elmore County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
47 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 15 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 2009, with 15 claims and $135,728 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes & Straight-line and Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Flooding, and Straight-line Winds.
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.
21 NOAA storm reports from Elmore County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 6 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 Zeta | Oct 28, 2020 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 2020 |
| Hurricane Nate | Oct 6, 2017 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 8, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
55 since 1996: 43 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 23, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 3, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 19, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 30, 2018 | — |
| Tropical Depression | May 29, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 10, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 23, 2025. Thunderstorm activity over Elmore and Montgomery counties late on August 23 led to isolated flooding issues. Highway 14 west of Wetumpka had minor flooding after a couple inches of rain fell. Meanwhile, more extensive flooding took place around Meriwether Rd in Pike Road, with the roadway being closed after radar estimates of 4-5 of rain fell in the immediate area.
Flash Flood · Jan 9, 2024. A line of thunderstorms moved across Central Alabama early on January 9, bringing heavy rainfall across much of the area. Rainfall totals were highest along the Interstate 65 corridor from Birmingham to Montgomery, with up to 5 inches of rain resulting in flooding in parts of Autauga and Elmore counties. Aside from the precipitation, strong gradient winds late January 8 through the day on January 9, with gusts up…
Flash Flood · May 3, 2021. A multi-day severe weather event unfolded across Central Alabama from May 2nd through May 4th. Alabama remained on the eastern side of a broad upper trough positioned over the Plains States. Several upper level impulses emanated from the trough axis and produced severe weather across Alabama. The main severe weather event occurred on May 4th when a QLCS tracked eastward across areas along and east of I-20 and pro…
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 Elmore 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.