1 flood insurance claims·$15,829 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 Randolph 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 driven by severe weather and heavy rainfall dominates the flood history of Randolph County, Alabama. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 21 flash flood events, alongside 5 general floods, 4 tropical storms, and 3 tropical depressions.
Recent impacts include a multi-day severe weather event that produced flooding from a slow-moving cold front in March 2023. Additionally, heavy rainfall and severe storms brought flooding to the area in February 2020 as impulses moved across the region from a deep upper trough. Tropical systems also affect the county, as demonstrated by the remnants of Hurricane Helene in September 2024 and Tropical Storm Zeta in October 2020.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records show limited claims history, with a single claim recorded in Zone X that resulted in an average payout of $15,829 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in Randolph County should pay close attention to localized flash flood risks during severe storm events and slow-moving weather fronts, regardless of standard mapping zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
12 NOAA storm reports from Randolph County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 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 | Mar 25, 2021 |
| Hurricane Zeta | Oct 28, 2020 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Feb 5, 2020 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 8, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Apr 27, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
33 since 1996: 21 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Depression | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 26, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Feb 6, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 10, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 24, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Apr 7, 2014 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Depression · Sep 27, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane along the Florida Big Bend/Panhandle late on September 26. As the center of circulation passed northward through Georgia overnight and the next morning, tropical depression-like effects were felt across far eastern Central Alabama, with wind gusts of 30-40 mph bringing down trees and a few power lines in several counties.
Flash Flood · Mar 26, 2023. A multi-day severe weather event produced all modes of severe weather across Central Alabama. An upper low parked over the Midwest States and an upper ridge over the Florida Peninsula produced a deep layer of moisture and shear over Alabama. A slow moving surface cold front provided the focus for severe storms late Saturday night and continuing through Monday morning.
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…
Flood · Feb 6, 2020. Heavy rainfall and severe storms affected Central Alabama on February 5th and 6th as several impulses emanated from a deep upper trough centered over the central United States. This event yielded tornadoes, damaging winds, and flooding.||The northward progression of a warm front allowed a seasonably warm and moist air mass to overspread the region on Wednesday, February 5th, with afternoon temperatures in the 70s…
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 Randolph 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.