Natural hazards · Cowarts

Cowarts, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cowarts 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 Cowarts?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cowarts to be higher than in 70% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding43%Tornadoes21%Hurricanes20%Cold waves5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Cowarts faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

21% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 79 years in the area

Hurricanes

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Cowarts flood?

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

1paid claims since 2024

$22Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20242026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Houston County.

Disasters that hit Cowarts

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CowartsDeclared for Houston County only

2009

Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes & Straight-Line

8 households applied for aid $39K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Dennis

$15K to the Town of Cowarts for repairs

2004

Hurricane Ivan

1 household applied for aid

Houston County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

Around Cowarts

Cowarts and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Cowartsmostly inland floodingHigh

Avonmostly inland floodingHigh

Dothanmostly inland floodingModerate

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. Cowarts covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

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

FEMA’s expected losses across Cowarts total about $1.2M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.