11 flood insurance claims·$129,638 paid·4 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 Winston 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 heavy rainfall events dominates the flood risk profile in Winston County, Alabama, accounting for 18 of the past 30 years of recorded events, alongside occasional tropical systems.
Severe weather patterns drive these flood occurrences, as demonstrated by heavy rainfall from slow-moving thunderstorms in February 2022 and widespread saturated ground conditions following prolonged tropical moisture streams in July 2013. Historical FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood claims are concentrated in designated flood zones. Specifically, Zone A properties have recorded 7 claims with an average payout of $32,410 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone X properties have recorded 4 claims with an average payout of $0 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within Zone A, where actual insurance payouts and recorded water depths confirm a historical risk of structural flooding.
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 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 2021, with 7 claims and $84,638 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.
4 NOAA storm reports from Winston County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Alabama flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 22, 2024 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 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, And Straight-line Winds | Apr 27, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 15, 2011 |
| Hurricane Gustav | Aug 29, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
21 since 1996: 18 flash floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 6, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 23, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 25, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 5, 2013 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 4, 2013 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 11, 2012 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 1, 2011 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 24, 2010 | $5,000 |
— = 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…
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.
Flash Flood · Dec 25, 2015. A low level boundary across southeast Alabama became the focus for heavy rainfall and severe weather during the early morning hours of December 24th. As the boundary lifted northward, the focus for heavy rainfall and severe weather shifted into north central Alabama.
Flash Flood · Jul 5, 2013. The first week of July 2013 was a wet one as a plume of tropical moisture streamed northward from the Gulf of Mexico, across the southeastern United States, and northeastward along the Appalachians. With a persistent mid level trough to its west and a ridge to its east, this stream of moisture continued for many days. Precipitable water values reached over two inches locally and after several days of widespread ra…
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 Winston 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.