Russell County, Alabama: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Russell County, Alabama has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 54.7 out of 100, higher than about 54% of US counties, with lightning, heat waves and drought scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $15 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 22 federal disaster declarations that included Russell 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 23 tornadoes touching Russell County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Alabama All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 59,131 Buildings worth $8.9 billion Area 654 sq mi Risk rank in Alabama 39 of 67 FIPS 01113
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning | Relatively High | 84.1 | $724,705 | about 67 a year | 120,787 strikes |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 77.3 | $1.1 million | about 8.3 a year | 135 |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 76.3 | $601,162 | about 48 a year | 1,463 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 75.2 | $823,997 | about once every 10 years | 26 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 69.8 | $4,833 | about once every 3.4 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 66.9 | $9.4 million | about once every 1.4 years | 20 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 58.7 | $1.4 million | about once every 1.9 years | 30 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 55.7 | $52,964 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 53.7 | $268,401 | about once every 671 years | — |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 45.3 | $176,726 | about 2.3 a year | 89 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 30.2 | $26,582 | about once every 2.0 years | 35 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 25.9 | $199,866 | about 1.4 a year | 52 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 12.9 | $8,379 | about once every 1.1 years | 18 |
| Cold wave | Very Low | 8.8 | $50,067 | about once every 2.7 years | 7 |
| 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 22
Most common: Severe Storm 11, Hurricane 9, Snowstorm 1, Drought 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Drought, Severe Storm |
| 1980s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 1990s | 5 | Severe Storm ×3, Hurricane, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 7 | Hurricane ×4, Severe Storm ×3 |
| 2010s | 5 | Severe Storm ×3, Hurricane ×2 |
| 2020s | 2 | Hurricane ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Russell 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 Sally (2020), Hurricane Michael (2018), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Dennis (2005), Hurricane Ivan (2004), Hurricane Opal (1995), Tropical Storm Alberto (1994).
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 23
| Tornadoes touching the county | 23 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×2 |
| Peak month | April (10) |
| Deadliest | 1 Apr 1981, F3, 0.1 mi path, 2 killed, 23 injured |
| Longest path | 24 Feb 1961, F2, 25.6 mi path, 0 killed, 4 injured |
| Most recent | 6 Apr 2016, EF1, 7.5 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 2 / 59 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 7 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
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 Russell County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russell County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 54.7 | Lightning |
| Chattahoochee County, GA | 38 km | Very Low | 2.0 | Lightning |
| Muscogee County, GA | 38 km | Relatively Moderate | 81.6 | Lightning |
| Lee County | 38 km | Relatively Low | 79.7 | Heat wave |
| Stewart County, GA | 40 km | Very Low | 5.9 | Hurricane |
| Macon County | 49 km | Very Low | 23.9 | Drought |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Alabama, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 63.5 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 14.2 |
| Community risk factor | 1.29 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $15 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 Russell County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Alabama · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Alabama
- Heat wave: Heatstroke warning signs
- Drought: Drought monitor for Alabama
- 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 Russell County
What natural disasters is Russell County, Alabama most at risk from?
Russell County, Alabama has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 54.7 out of 100, higher than about 54% of US counties, with lightning, heat waves and drought scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $15 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Russell County had?
OpenFEMA lists 22 federal disaster declarations that included Russell 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 Russell County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 23 tornadoes touching Russell County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 1 Apr 1981, F3, 0.1 mi path, 2 killed, 23 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.