24 flood insurance claims·$110,938 paid·9 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 Monroe 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 heavy rain systems dominates the local flood risk profile, accounting for 24 of the 36 total flood events recorded over the last 30 years alongside 5 tropical storms and 4 hurricanes. Historical events documented by NOAA include severe weather driven by strong wind shear and instability in June 2023, as well as heavy rain from an approaching cold front that caused flooding across the area in February 2022.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in high-risk Zone A have filed the highest volume of claims at 14, resulting in an average payout of $7,438 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Properties categorized under Zone UNKNOWN recorded 8 claims with an average payout of $4,010 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, while Zone V and Zone X each recorded a single claim.
Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties located within high-risk Zone A and unmapped or unknown zones should pay the closest attention to flood risk, given the historical concentration of claims and the frequent occurrence of flash flooding driven by severe storms.
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 3 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 1990, with 9 claims and $52,263 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding.
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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Monroe County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 22, 2024 |
| 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 |
| Hurricane Isaac | Aug 26, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Apr 27, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
36 since 1996: 24 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 15, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 3, 2022 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 3, 2022 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 15, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Feb 9, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 7, 2017 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 15, 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.
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 Monroe 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.