384 flood insurance claims·$13.8M 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 Escambia 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 storms dominates the flood risk profile in Escambia County, alongside impacts from tropical systems. According to NOAA Storm Events Database records from the last 30 years, the county experienced 43 flash flood events, alongside 4 hurricanes, 3 tropical storms, and 3 general floods. Historical events underscore this vulnerability, including slow-moving storms in April 2025 that dropped heavy rainfall across the region, and the passage of Tropical Storm Claudette in June 2021, which brought tropical storm-force wind gusts and heavy moisture across south-central Alabama.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas. Properties in Zone A recorded the highest volume of claims at 261, with an average payout of $58,758 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X registered 79 claims with an average payout of $22,391 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches, and unshaded Zone X properties recorded 21 claims with an average payout of $15,966 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Zone V recorded 8 claims with an average payout of $10,348 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches, while unknown zones accounted for 14 claims averaging $2,367 with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents in designated high-risk zones, as well as those in moderate-risk Zone X areas that experience localized water accumulation, should pay the closest attention to these historical flood patterns.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of Escambia County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
291 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 6 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 126 claims and $6.1M 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.
18 NOAA storm reports from Escambia County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →
27 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 22, 2024 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 15, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
53 since 1996: 43 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 6, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 5, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 5, 2021 | $100,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 23, 2020 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 16, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 15, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 6, 2025. Slow moving storms developed across Mobile and Baldwin county and become stationary. Some areas received 8 to 12 inches of rain causing severe flooding in parts of Mobile and Baldwin counties. Around 100 homes were damaged by flooding in Baldwin County.
Flash Flood · Jun 19, 2021. Potential Tropical Cyclone Claudette moved west of the Alabama coastal waters on the evening of June 18th, 2021. Claudette was declared a Tropical Storm and made landfall in southeast Louisiana during the early morning hours of June 19th. Claudette then turned northeast across southeast Mississippi and across south central Alabama during the morning on Saturday June 19th.||Tropical Storm Claudette produced frequen…
Flash Flood · Oct 5, 2021. The combination of a stalled front and very slow moving upper level low combined with very deep Gulf moisture to generate rounds of showers and thunderstorms. Rainfall amounts of 4 to 12 inches fell across the area and led to numerous reports of flooding. Significant flash flooding was reported in parts of Escambia County AL, particularly from Brewton east to the Damascus area. The Murder Creek in Brewton crested…
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…
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 Escambia 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.