Natural hazards · Excel

Excel, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Excel comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Excel?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Excel to be higher than in 77% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding34%Hurricanes32%Tornadoes11%Lightning6%Cold waves5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Excel faces

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

Inland flooding

34% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 66% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

32% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 25 years in the area

Lightning

6% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windDrought

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 Excel flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Excel.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Monroe County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Excel

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ExcelDeclared for Monroe County only

2011

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

3 households applied for aid

2005

Hurricane Dennis

$1K to the Town of Excel for repairs

2004

Hurricane Ivan

149 households applied for aid $165K aid approved $35K to the Town of Excel for repairs

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid $316 aid approved

Monroe County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

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. Excel 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 Excel’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Excel. 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.