Natural hazards · Reform

Reform, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Reform comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 11 claims here since 1978. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Reform?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Reform to be higher than in 67% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding38%Tornadoes23%Earthquakes13%Heat waves10%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Reform faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

23% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Earthquakes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Heat waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Reform flood?

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

11paid claims since 1978

$102Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19782026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pickens County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

5storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Reform

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ReformDeclared for Pickens County only

2011

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

115 households applied for aid $62K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

154 households applied for aid $80K aid approved

2004

Hurricane Ivan

41 households applied for aid $41K aid approved

Pickens County has had 16 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. Reform 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 Reform’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Reform. 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.