Natural hazards · Sims Chapel

Sims Chapel, AL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sims Chapel comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Sims Chapel?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sims Chapel to be higher than in 92% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding37%Hurricanes32%Tornadoes13%Cold waves5%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Sims Chapel faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

32% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Sims Chapel flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Washington County.

Disasters that hit Sims Chapel

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Washington County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Sims Chapel itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Sims ChapelDeclared for Washington County only

Washington 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. Sims Chapel 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 Sims Chapel’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Sims Chapel. 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.