Lowndes County, Alabama: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Lowndes County, Alabama has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 29.1 out of 100, higher than about 29% of US counties, with heat waves, hurricanes and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $5.5 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 18 federal disaster declarations that included Lowndes County since 1975, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3618-AL (Hurricane Helene, declared 26 September 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 26 tornadoes touching Lowndes County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Alabama All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 10,307 Buildings worth $1.9 billion Area 732 sq mi Risk rank in Alabama 61 of 67 FIPS 01085
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 72.7 | $595,186 | about 9.7 a year | 160 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 71.4 | $395,285 | about once every 12 years | 28 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 67.3 | $518,876 | about 1.5 a year | 56 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 67.1 | $1.3 million | about once every 1.7 years | 23 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 52.3 | $97,847 | about 25 a year | 784 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 49.5 | $154,838 | about once every 546 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 47.8 | $124,378 | about 7 a year | 49,195 strikes |
| Landslide | Very Low | 38.2 | $336 | about once every 3.5 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 31.9 | $2.1 million | about once every 1.6 years | 18 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 31.5 | $9,040 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 18.8 | $8,353 | about once every 2.5 years | 27 |
| Hail | Very Low | 16.9 | $33,830 | about 1.9 a year | 73 |
| Cold wave | Very Low | 14.0 | $80,108 | about once every 2.7 years | 7 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 2.9 | $1,059 | about 1.1 a year | 20 |
| 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 18
Most common: Hurricane 11, Severe Storm 4, Snowstorm 1, Drought 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Drought, Flood |
| 1990s | 4 | Hurricane ×2, Snowstorm, Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 4 | Hurricane ×4 |
| 2010s | 5 | Severe Storm ×3, Hurricane ×2 |
| 2020s | 3 | Hurricane ×3 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Lowndes 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 Nate (2017), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Dennis (2005), Hurricane Ivan (2004), Hurricane Georges (1998), 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 26
| Tornadoes touching the county | 26 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×10 |
| Peak month | December (6) |
| Deadliest | 25 Nov 1979, F2, 22.9 mi path, 0 killed, 12 injured |
| Longest path | 23 Dec 1956, F2, 121.7 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Most recent | 29 Dec 2024, EF0, 5.7 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 44 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 9 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
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 Lowndes County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowndes County (this page) | — | Very Low | 29.1 | Heat wave |
| Montgomery County | 42 km | Relatively Moderate | 91.8 | Lightning |
| Autauga County | 42 km | Relatively Low | 57.6 | Heat wave |
| Butler County | 45 km | Relatively Low | 45.2 | Hurricane |
| Dallas County | 47 km | Relatively Low | 70.8 | Lightning |
| Crenshaw County | 57 km | Very Low | 34.4 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Alabama, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 99.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 26.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.81 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $5.5 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 Lowndes County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Alabama · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Heat wave: Heatstroke warning signs
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- 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 Lowndes County
What natural disasters is Lowndes County, Alabama most at risk from?
Lowndes County, Alabama has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 29.1 out of 100, higher than about 29% of US counties, with heat waves, hurricanes and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $5.5 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Lowndes County had?
OpenFEMA lists 18 federal disaster declarations that included Lowndes County since 1975, 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 Lowndes County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 26 tornadoes touching Lowndes County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 25 Nov 1979, F2, 22.9 mi path, 0 killed, 12 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.