Cherokee County, Alabama: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Cherokee County, Alabama has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 63.3 out of 100, higher than about 63% of US counties, with drought, tornadoes and earthquakes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $16 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Cherokee County since 1974, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3618-AL (Hurricane Helene, declared 26 September 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 17 tornadoes touching Cherokee County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Alabama All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 24,933 Buildings worth $5.0 billion Area 606 sq mi Risk rank in Alabama 35 of 67 FIPS 01019
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 89.8 | $1.1 million | about 32 a year | 1,071 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 83.0 | $3.2 million | about once every 2.1 years | 15 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 73.4 | $696,123 | about once every 303 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 70.4 | $9.2 million | about once every 1.1 years | 26 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 70.4 | $4,283 | about once every 2.0 years | — |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 68.2 | $106,944 | about once every 332 years | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 62.9 | $197,849 | about once every 31 years | 10 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 53.7 | $756,285 | about once every 1.1 years | 17 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 46.2 | $142,058 | about 62 a year | 103,676 strikes |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 44.8 | $329,035 | about 3.6 a year | 139 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 44.6 | $198,491 | about 4.5 a year | 76 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 34.0 | $27,379 | about once every 2.3 years | 30 |
| Hail | Very Low | 33.8 | $96,135 | about 4.9 a year | 187 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 24.3 | $15,428 | about 3.7 a year | 71 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 23
Most common: Severe Storm 11, Hurricane 8, Fire 1, Snowstorm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Drought, Tornado |
| 1990s | 4 | Severe Storm ×2, Hurricane, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 9 | Severe Storm ×5, Hurricane ×3, Fire |
| 2010s | 5 | Severe Storm ×4, Hurricane |
| 2020s | 3 | Hurricane ×3 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Cherokee County
- Hurricane Helene (2024, EM-3618-AL): 67 Alabama counties designated.
- Hurricane Sally (2020, EM-3545-AL): 67 Alabama counties designated.
- Hurricane Irma (2017, EM-3389-AL): 67 Alabama counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Helene (2024), Hurricane Zeta (2020), Hurricane Sally (2020), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Ivan (2004), Hurricane Opal (1995).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Alabama also had 1 statewide declaration with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 17
| Tornadoes touching the county | 17 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×1 |
| Peak month | April (6) |
| Deadliest | 27 Mar 1994, F4, 50 mi path, 22 killed, 150 injured |
| Longest path | 27 Mar 1994, F4, 50 mi path, 22 killed, 150 injured |
| Most recent | 27 May 2024, EF1, 3.4 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 31 / 196 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Cherokee County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherokee County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 63.3 | Drought |
| DeKalb County | 37 km | Relatively Low | 80.4 | Strong wind |
| Floyd County, GA | 37 km | Relatively Moderate | 82.0 | Tornado |
| Chattooga County, GA | 41 km | Relatively Low | 54.4 | Tornado |
| Etowah County | 42 km | Relatively Moderate | 87.3 | Tornado |
| Polk County, GA | 43 km | Relatively Low | 64.1 | Tornado |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Alabama, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 81.8 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 16.1 |
| Community risk factor | 1.50 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $16 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Cherokee County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Alabama · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Drought: Drought monitor for Alabama
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Cherokee County
What natural disasters is Cherokee County, Alabama most at risk from?
Cherokee County, Alabama has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 63.3 out of 100, higher than about 63% of US counties, with drought, tornadoes and earthquakes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $16 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Cherokee County had?
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Cherokee County since 1974, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3618-AL (Hurricane Helene, declared 26 September 2024). Another 1 Alabama declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Cherokee County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 17 tornadoes touching Cherokee County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 27 Mar 1994, F4, 50 mi path, 22 killed, 150 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.