14 flood insurance claims·$66,572 paid·3 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 Lamar 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 slow-moving thunderstorms and heavy rainfall systems dominates the flood history of Lamar County, accounting for 57 of the 66 recorded flood events over the last 30 years.
Recent weather patterns illustrate this threat. On February 23, 2022, a line of thunderstorms ahead of a slow-moving cold front dropped average rainfall totals of 2 to 3 inches over northwest portions of central Alabama. Later, on June 14, 2025, slow-moving thunderstorms dropped a few inches of rain over southern Lamar County, resulting in several flooded or washed-out roadways.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that property owners across multiple zones experience flood impacts. Records show claims filed in Zone UNKNOWN (averaging $5,604 with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches), Zone A (averaging $3,217 with an average recorded water depth of 2 inches), Zone X Unshaded (averaging $8,697 with an average recorded water depth of 1 inch), and Zone X (averaging $7,361 with an average recorded water depth of 10 inches). Homeowners and real estate agents in these designated zones, as well as properties outside mapped high-risk areas susceptible to flash flooding, should pay close attention to local drainage conditions and heavy rainfall alerts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 2 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 1983, with 6 claims and $36,080 paid.
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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Lamar County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 22, 2024 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Feb 5, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 19, 2019 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 8, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 28, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Apr 27, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
66 since 1996: 57 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 6, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 23, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 2, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 25, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 4, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Dec 23, 2014 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 14, 2025. A mid-level trough over the Mississippi River, along with subtropical ridging over the northern Gulf and eastward into the Atlantic, brought fairly moist southwesterly flow to Central Alabama. Afternoon convection resulted in a few strong to severe storms, with areas of tree damage in Cherokee, Jefferson, Tallapoosa, and Chambers counties. Later that evening, slow-moving thunderstorms dropped a few inches of rain…
Flash Flood · Apr 6, 2025. Deep-layer ridging over the Southeast United States held up a trough over the Central United States for the first few days of April, leading to a prolonged and significant severe weather and flooding event from Texas to Ohio and West Virginia along a stalled boundary. As the ridge began to retreat eastward, a cold front slowly progressed through Central Alabama on April 6, with an all-hazards weather event unfoldi…
Flood · Mar 1, 2024. A shortwave trough approaching the Mississippi Valley from the central Great Plains, along with a surface low in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico and stationary boundary along the Gulf Coast, contributed to widespread showers moving across Central Alabama during the morning hours of March 1. A ridge located over the East Coast promoted easterly surface winds across the area, with temperatures in the upper 40s to lo…
Flash Flood · Feb 23, 2022. A line of thunderstorms ahead of a slow moving cold front produced periods of heavy rainfall over a several period over the northwest portions of central Alabama. Rainfall totals averaged 2-3 inches.
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 Lamar 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.