Automated baseline from FEMA and NOAA data, release 2026-10.

Madison County, AL

Risk-assessment baseline packet. County FIPS 01089. Release 2026-10, data as of 2026-09-30.

Summary

Plan status as of 2026-09-30: Expired on 2026-03-16. Plan: Division F, Phase 2 (FEMA plan 108092), approved 2021-03-17.

Update: FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions.

Since the plan was approved on 2021-03-17: 1 new hazard declaration (1 incident) and 573 NOAA Storm Events records; details under "What changed since your last plan".

Highest expected annual loss (FEMA National Risk Index, modeled total; see B1-a): Inland Flooding ($99,072,066 a year), Tornado ($32,348,414) and Cold Wave ($16,490,259).

The packet's tables are organized by the items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, Element B (B1-a to B2-c); the summaries below follow the same order.

Download the packet

Full packet as a web page. File manifest (checksums, source versions).

Plan clock

Expired on 2026-03-16

Plan:
Division F, Phase 2 (FEMA plan 108092)
Approved:
2021-03-17
Days since expiry:
198
Update underway:
FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisions

Until a new plan is approved, FEMA mitigation project grants (HMGP, FMA) need a FEMA exception (44 CFR 201.6(a)(3)).

What changed since your last plan (approved 2021-03-17)

New federal declarations:
1 new hazard declaration (1 incident): EM-3618-AL (Hurricane Helene)
Storm Events records since approval:
573 records (data through 2026-06-30)
Repetitive loss now:
FMA RL 2, SRL 7 (44 CFR 77.2); any definition: 43
Repeat-flood change:
this release sets the baseline count.

Plan status for every jurisdiction listed in this county

7 jurisdictions. Each row is that jurisdiction's own plan clock. Notes include other approved plans FEMA lists for the same jurisdiction.

JurisdictionTypeStatusPlanApprovedExpiresDays to expirynegative = days since expiryUpdate underwayNotes
Madison County (unincorporated area)UnincorporatedExpired on 2026-03-16Division F, Phase 2 (FEMA plan 108092)2021-03-172026-03-16-198FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisionsThis jurisdiction approved 2022-07-27.
Gurley townTownExpired on 2026-03-16Division F, Phase 2 (FEMA plan 108092)2021-03-172026-03-16-198FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisionsThis jurisdiction approved 2023-03-16.
Huntsville cityCityExpired on 2026-03-16Division F, Phase 2 (FEMA plan 108092)2021-03-172026-03-16-198FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisionsThis jurisdiction approved 2022-06-28.
Madison cityCityExpired on 2026-03-16Division F, Phase 2 (FEMA plan 108092)2021-03-172026-03-16-198FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisionsThis jurisdiction approved 2022-07-27.
New Hope cityCityExpired on 2026-03-16Division F, Phase 2 (FEMA plan 108092)2021-03-172026-03-16-198FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisionsThis jurisdiction approved 2022-07-27.
Owens Cross Roads townTownExpired on 2026-03-16Division F, Phase 2 (FEMA plan 108092)2021-03-172026-03-16-198FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisionsThis jurisdiction approved 2022-07-12.
Triana townTownExpired on 2026-03-16Division F, Phase 2 (FEMA plan 108092)2021-03-172026-03-16-198FEMA tracker shows a plan awaiting revisionsThis jurisdiction approved 2023-01-12.

Plan 108092 lists 40 other participants, named in the Excel file.

State plan status and tribal plans in this state: see the state page.

What the packet contains

Sections in FEMA checklist order; each heading names the review item its tables support. Full tables are in the downloads above.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-a Hazard identification

14 of the 18 National Risk Index hazards apply here.

Not applicable to this county per NRI, with no federal declaration and no Storm Events record since 1996: avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami and volcanic activity. That is the evidence for leaving them out of the plan.

Highest expected annual loss (NRI, modeled): Inland Flooding, Tornado and Cold Wave.

Not covered by NRI (local data needed): dam failure (incl. upstream dams); levee failure; flash flood as its own subtype; ice jams; debris flows; erosion (riverine and coastal); land subsidence and sinkholes; expansive soils.

The state hazard mitigation plan also lists hazards for this county; FEMA asks the plan to explain any hazard it leaves out.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-b Hazard location

  • Cold Wave, Drought, Hail, Heat Wave, Ice Storm, Lightning, Strong Wind and Winter Weather: affects the whole county; national data give no location within it.
  • Earthquake, Hurricane, Landslide, Tornado and Wildfire vary within the county; the packet lists the highest-rated census tracts for each.
  • Inland Flooding: the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is the required location source for flooding. See the FEMA Flood Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov) for this county.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-c Hazard extent

Storm Events records for 14 of the 21 NOAA event-type groups mapped to the 18 hazards, with the scale, observed range and worst recorded event for each; the others say which local data are needed.

Worst recorded tornado, hail and thunderstorm wind (the three event types on record since the 1950s; the packet has every group):

  • Hail: 3 in hail, 2009-04-10
  • Thunderstorm Wind: 87 kt (100 mph) estimated gust, Thunderstorm Wind, 2018-06-28
  • Tornado: F5 tornado, 1974-04-03, 4.7 mi path length (whole path, pre-1996), 500 yd wide, damage not recorded (pre-1996 record), 9 direct deaths, 110 direct injuries

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-d Previous occurrences

Federal declarations for this area: 21 declarations covering 17 separate hazard incidents counted in this packet; each with type, dates and county Public Assistance dollars.

New since the last plan (approved 2021-03-17): EM-3618-AL.

1 statewide declaration listed separately.

Hazards with no Storm Events record and no federal declaration are stated as such (7 of 18).

Storm Events history: 2,410 records (notable ones in the PDF, all of them in the Excel file).

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-e Probability of future events

FEMA annualized frequency (modeled) for each hazard, with a descriptor from a scale defined in the packet.

  • Highly likely: Hail, Inland Flooding, Lightning and Strong Wind
  • Likely: Cold Wave, Drought, Heat Wave, Ice Storm, Landslide, Tornado and Winter Weather
  • Possible: Hurricane
  • Unlikely: Earthquake and Wildfire

Historical frequency by intensity band (tornado, hail, wind): 9 bands from Storm Events.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-f Hazards that vary across jurisdictions

Range of census tract risk scores within the area for 14 of the 18 hazards (95 tracts; rated tracts only).

7 jurisdictions: plan clock, repeat-flood count, Public Assistance dollars and event records naming the place (starting figures from federal data).

County Public Assistance in B1-d also includes applicants filed under the county that are not matched to a jurisdiction row here (for example county offices and boards filed under their own names, such as a sheriff's office or a conservation board, and state agencies, special districts and nonprofits), so the jurisdiction rows add up to less.

Supports FEMA checklist items B2-a and B2-b Vulnerability and potential impacts

The packet's table gives county-level starting figures; the plan describes impacts for each jurisdiction and its own assets.

Storm Events damage since 2021-03-17: $8,897,900 in county-coded records (459 records); $5,139,500 reported for the zone (114 zone records). Data through 2026-06-30; nominal dollars.

Local data needed

To gather:

  • Critical facilities and lifelines per hazard
  • A problem statement per jurisdiction per hazard
  • Changes in development in hazard-prone areas since the last approval, or a statement of none (E1-a)
  • Future assets

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-a Vulnerability (county context)

Population 387,825; building value $83,735,886,066 and agriculture value $90,588,369 (total, not at risk).

National Risk Index rating Relatively High; social vulnerability Relatively Low; community resilience Very High.

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-c Repetitive loss properties

Repetitive-loss properties, FMA definition (44 CFR 77.2): 2 repetitive loss, 7 severe repetitive loss. NFIP insurance definition: 43 and 7.

Mitigated 0; insured 13; NFIP data as of 2026-08-02. Counts by occupancy group and for each jurisdiction are in the packet.

Releases

Each release is dated; this is release 2026-10. It was first published 2026-09-30; its files do not change except for dated corrections listed on the changelog (corrected 2026-10-01, 2026-10-02, 2026-10-03, 2026-10-13, 2026-10-17). Later releases will be listed here with what changed between them. All releases.

Cite this

Hazard Plain (2026). Madison County, AL: risk-assessment baseline packet, release 2026-10 (data as of 2026-09-30; County FIPS 01089). Automated baseline. https://hazardplain.org/al/01089/ Built from FEMA OpenFEMA, the FEMA National Risk Index and NOAA NCEI Storm Events; source versions in the packet's Sources list.

Source citations for the plan's bibliography (11)

How this packet is built: methods and sources