Walker County, Alabama: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Walker County, Alabama has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 82.6 out of 100, higher than about 82% of US counties, with tornadoes, inland (river and flash) flooding and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $35 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Walker County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3618-AL (Hurricane Helene, declared 26 September 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 58 tornadoes touching Walker County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Alabama All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 65,276 Buildings worth $13 billion Area 813 sq mi Risk rank in Alabama 17 of 67 FIPS 01127
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Relatively High | 93.9 | $7.4 million | about once every 1.1 years | 53 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 85.8 | $19 million | about 1.1 a year | 31 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 84.7 | $1.4 million | about 8.7 a year | 143 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 84.3 | $19,293 | about 1.9 a year | — |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 83.8 | $1.1 million | about 3.8 a year | 144 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 83.5 | $1.7 million | about once every 361 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 83.3 | $607,958 | about 68 a year | 233,953 strikes |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 81.5 | $2.9 million | about once every 1.2 years | 16 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 66.0 | $79,805 | about 3.1 a year | 59 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 62.5 | $71,460 | about once every 685 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 58.3 | $118,918 | about once every 25 years | 14 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 48.7 | $57,416 | about once every 2.2 years | 32 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 39.5 | $44,552 | about 27 a year | 910 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 38.4 | $120,406 | about 4.4 a year | 167 |
| 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 10, Hurricane 6, Flood 2, Tornado 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 5 | Flood ×2, Tornado ×2, Drought |
| 1990s | 4 | Severe Storm ×2, Fire, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 6 | Hurricane ×3, Severe Storm ×3 |
| 2010s | 5 | Severe Storm ×4, Hurricane |
| 2020s | 3 | Hurricane ×2, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Walker 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 Irma (2017), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Ivan (2004).
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 58
| Tornadoes touching the county | 58 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×3 |
| Peak month | April (15) |
| Deadliest | 10 Nov 2002, F3, 72.6 mi path, 7 killed, 53 injured |
| Longest path | 3 Apr 1974, F4, 110.6 mi path, 3 killed, 178 injured |
| Most recent | 15 Mar 2025, EF2, 39.5 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 23 / 347 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 11 | 25 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 7 | 6 |
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 Walker County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walker County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 82.6 | Tornado |
| Winston County | 39 km | Relatively Low | 59.2 | Landslide |
| Fayette County | 42 km | Very Low | 38.2 | Landslide |
| Jefferson County | 46 km | Relatively High | 97.6 | Tornado |
| Cullman County | 54 km | Relatively Moderate | 81.9 | Cold wave |
| Tuscaloosa County | 61 km | Relatively Moderate | 90.8 | Tornado |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Alabama, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 80.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 22.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.46 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $35 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 Walker County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Alabama · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- Inland flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Floods recorded
- Heat wave: Heatstroke warning signs
- 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 Walker County
What natural disasters is Walker County, Alabama most at risk from?
Walker County, Alabama has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 82.6 out of 100, higher than about 82% of US counties, with tornadoes, inland (river and flash) flooding and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $35 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Walker County had?
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Walker County since 1973, 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 Walker County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 58 tornadoes touching Walker County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 10 Nov 2002, F3, 72.6 mi path, 7 killed, 53 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.