Natural hazards · Roanoke

Roanoke, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Roanoke comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low 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 Roanoke?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding50%Tornadoes18%Hurricanes10%Cold waves9%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Roanoke faces

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

Inland flooding

50% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 41% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 27 years in the area

Hurricanes

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Roanoke flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Randolph County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

18storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Roanoke

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RoanokeDeclared for Randolph County only

2021

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

21 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

2011

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

3 households applied for aid $250 aid approved

2004

Hurricane Ivan

1 household applied for aid $7K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

22 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

Randolph 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. Roanoke 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 Roanoke’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Roanoke. 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.