Natural hazards · Glencoe

Glencoe, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Glencoe comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 5 claims here since 1999. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Glencoe?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Glencoe to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding46%Tornadoes36%Cold waves5%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Glencoe faces

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

Inland flooding

46% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

36% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 91 years in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce 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 Glencoe flood?

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

5paid claims since 1999

$46Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19992026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Etowah County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

11storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Glencoe

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into GlencoeDeclared for Etowah County only

2018

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

1 household applied for aid

2011

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

48 households applied for aid $67K aid approved

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

Around Glencoe

Glencoe and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Hokes Bluffmostly inland floodingHigh

Glencoemostly inland floodingHigh

Southsidemostly inland floodingHigh

Gadsdenmostly 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. Glencoe covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Glencoe’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Glencoe. 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 Glencoe total about $2.2M 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.