60 flood insurance claims·$1.1M 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 Russell 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 slow-moving storm systems dominates the flood history of Russell County, AL, backed by 21 recorded flash flood events, 4 tropical storms, 3 tropical depressions, and 2 general floods over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including slow-moving thunderstorms that caused flooding on April 6, 2025, and a slow-moving storm system that dropped up to 8 inches of rain across Russell, Lee, and Macon counties, causing flooding along the Interstate 85 corridor on February 11, 2024. Additionally, the effects of tropical systems were felt when Hurricane Helene passed northward through Georgia, bringing wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph and downing trees and power lines on September 27, 2024.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should note that the highest volume of National Flood Insurance Program claims is concentrated in Zone A, with 34 claims averaging a payout of $31,428 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. However, properties in Zone X have also experienced significant impacts, recording 15 claims with an average payout of $35,593 and an average recorded water depth of 26 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED, Zone X_SHADED, and unknown zones account for a smaller number of claims with lower average payouts and shallower recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
19% of Russell County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
42 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 9 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 2017, with 11 claims and $160,418 paid, the year of Hurricane Irma.
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.
14 NOAA storm reports from Russell County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1975, 3 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 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 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Dec 12, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
30 since 1996: 21 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 6, 2025 | — |
| Tropical Depression | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 13, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 11, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 3, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 4, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 16, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
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.
Flood · Feb 13, 2024. A slow-moving storm system brought several inches of rainfall to most of Central Alabama from early morning on February 11 through the evening of February 12. While most areas saw at least 1-2 inches of rain, parts of southern and southeastern Central Alabama recorded as much as 8 inches, especially across parts of Lee, Macon, and Russell counties. Waves of heavy rainfall resulted in flooding along the Interstate…
Flash Flood · Feb 11, 2024. A slow-moving storm system brought several inches of rainfall to most of Central Alabama from early morning on February 11 through the evening of February 12. While most areas saw at least 1-2 inches of rain, parts of southern and southeastern Central Alabama recorded as much as 8 inches, especially across parts of Lee, Macon, and Russell counties. Waves of heavy rainfall resulted in flooding along the Interstate…
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 Russell 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.