Natural hazards · McKenzie

McKenzie, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in McKenzie comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is McKenzie?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in McKenzie to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes31%Inland flooding26%Tornadoes16%Strong wind8%Lightning7%Cold waves6%Everything else6%

By hazard

What McKenzie faces

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

Hurricanes

31% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 52% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lightning

7% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesDrought

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 McKenzie flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Butler County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

7storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit McKenzie

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into McKenzieDeclared for Butler County only

2015

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

$8K to the Town of McKenzie for repairs

2004

Hurricane Ivan

$1K to the Town of McKenzie for repairs

Butler County has had 25 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. McKenzie 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 McKenzie’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of McKenzie. 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.