Winston County, Alabama: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Winston County, Alabama has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 59.2 out of 100, higher than about 59% of US counties, with landslides, earthquakes and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $12 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Winston 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 43 tornadoes touching Winston County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Alabama All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 23,478 Buildings worth $5.5 billion Area 638 sq mi Risk rank in Alabama 36 of 67 FIPS 01133
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 85.4 | $18,974 | about 1.9 a year | — |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 81.4 | $1.1 million | about once every 347 years | — |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 79.2 | $2.3 million | about once every 1.4 years | 44 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 74.6 | $350,995 | about 65 a year | 92,132 strikes |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 67.0 | $1.1 million | about once every 1.1 years | 17 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 64.7 | $6.4 million | about once every 1.8 years | 16 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 63.7 | $483,285 | about 4.8 a year | 183 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 62.8 | $167,673 | about once every 31 years | 12 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 62.7 | $392,814 | about 8 a year | 131 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 59.1 | $47,105 | about once every 658 years | — |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 48.4 | $47,417 | about once every 1.8 years | 38 |
| Drought | Very Low | 26.2 | $8,945 | about 24 a year | 833 |
| Hail | Very Low | 22.4 | $48,074 | about 4.6 a year | 176 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 18.7 | $9,662 | about 3.5 a year | 66 |
| 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 7, Flood 2, Tornado 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4 | Tornado ×2, Drought, Flood |
| 1990s | 6 | Severe Storm ×4, Snowstorm, Flood |
| 2000s | 6 | Hurricane ×4, Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2010s | 5 | Severe Storm ×4, Hurricane |
| 2020s | 2 | Hurricane ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Winston 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 43
| Tornadoes touching the county | 43 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F5 ×1 |
| Peak month | April (9) |
| Deadliest | 3 Apr 1974, F5, 79.5 mi path, 28 killed, 272 injured |
| Longest path | 3 Apr 1974, F5, 79.5 mi path, 28 killed, 272 injured |
| Most recent | 1 Apr 2023, EF1, 17 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 40 / 423 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 7 | 17 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 5 |
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 Winston County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winston County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 59.2 | Landslide |
| Walker County | 39 km | Relatively Moderate | 82.6 | Tornado |
| Lawrence County | 42 km | Relatively Low | 69.3 | Tornado |
| Cullman County | 47 km | Relatively Moderate | 81.9 | Cold wave |
| Marion County | 47 km | Relatively Low | 69.1 | Lightning |
| Franklin County | 54 km | Relatively Low | 67.7 | Tornado |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Alabama, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 96.0 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 16.6 |
| Community risk factor | 1.75 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $12 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 Winston County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Alabama · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning 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 Winston County
What natural disasters is Winston County, Alabama most at risk from?
Winston County, Alabama has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 59.2 out of 100, higher than about 59% of US counties, with landslides, earthquakes and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $12 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Winston County had?
OpenFEMA lists 23 federal disaster declarations that included Winston 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 Winston County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 43 tornadoes touching Winston County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 3 Apr 1974, F5, 79.5 mi path, 28 killed, 272 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.