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Natural hazards · Fort Payne

Fort Payne, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fort Payne comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 23 claims here since 1992. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Fort Payne?

34
Low
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fort Payne to be higher than in 34% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding57%Tornadoes13%Cold waves12%Earthquakes7%Everything else11%
By hazard

What Fort Payne faces

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

Inland flooding

57% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places
Recorded about once every 49 years in the area

Cold waves

12% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places
Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Fort Payne flood?

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

23paid claims since 1992
$926Kpaid to owners
6homes flooded more than once
19922026

Biggest named events

  • Hurricane Opal: 5 claims, $80K
  • Mid-spring storms: 2 claims, $139K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Fort Payne isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: DeKalb County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

67storm safe rooms built
14flood-prone properties bought out and cleared
Disasters that hit Fort Payne

9 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Fort PayneDeclared for DeKalb County only
2020

Severe Thunderstorms

$118K to the City of Fort Payne for repairs
2015

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

$68K to the City of Fort Payne for repairs
2014

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

21 households applied for aid $53K aid approved $94K to the City of Fort Payne for repairs
2011

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

497 households applied for aid $787K aid approved
2010

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

51 households applied for aid $131K aid approved $15K to the City of Fort Payne for repairs
2009

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

$8K to the City of Fort Payne for repairs
2004

Hurricane Ivan

8 households applied for aid $3K aid approved $10K to the City of Fort Payne for repairs
2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

28 households applied for aid $25K aid approved $90K to the City of Fort Payne for repairs
2000

Severe Winter Storms

$178K to the City of Fort Payne for repairs
DeKalb County has had 32 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.
Around Fort Payne

Fort Payne and the towns around it

Pine Ridge: Low, mostly inland floodingValley Head: High, mostly inland floodingHammondville: High, mostly inland floodingRainsville: Moderate, mostly inland floodingMentone: High, mostly inland floodingFort Payne: Low, mostly inland flooding Fort PaynePine RidgeValley HeadHammondville
Very lowLowModerateHighVery high
Valley Headmostly inland floodingHigh
Hammondvillemostly inland floodingHigh
Fort Paynemostly inland floodingLow
Pine Ridgemostly inland floodingLow
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. Fort Payne covers 3 census tracts, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Fort Payne’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Fort Payne. 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 Fort Payne total about $5.2M 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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