Natural hazards · Cherokee

Cherokee, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cherokee comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2024. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cherokee?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cherokee to be higher than in 71% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding49%Cold waves14%Tornadoes12%Earthquakes11%Strong wind6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Cherokee faces

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

Inland flooding

49% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 88% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Earthquakes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 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 Cherokee flood?

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

1paid claims since 2024

$1Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20242026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Colbert County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

8storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Cherokee

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CherokeeDeclared for Colbert County only

2011

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

22 households applied for aid $18K aid approved $1K to the Town of Cherokee for repairs

2004

Hurricane Ivan

1 household applied for aid

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

Colbert County has had 21 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. Cherokee 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 Cherokee’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Cherokee. 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.