Natural hazards · Arab

Arab, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Arab comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 6 claims here since 2001. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Arab?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Arab to be higher than in 36% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes40%Inland flooding30%Cold waves8%Earthquakes8%Strong wind7%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Arab faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Tornadoes

40% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 70 years in the area

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 26% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Arab flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Arab, from FEMA’s records.

6paid claims since 2001

$175Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20012026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Arab isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Marshall County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

28storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Arab

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Arab itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Arab.

Brought FEMA money into ArabDeclared for Marshall County only

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$5K to the City of Arab for repairs

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

1,100 households applied for aid $1.4M aid approved $104K to the City of Arab for repairs

2009

Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds

$111K to the City of Arab for repairs

2004

Hurricane Ivan

7 households applied for aid $6K aid approved $26K to the City of Arab for repairs

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

5 households applied for aid $13K aid approved

Marshall County has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Arab is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Arab’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Arab. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.