Mobile County, AL Environment & Hazard Risk

• HurricaneVery High$178M/yr expected annual loss, about once every 4 years
• LightningVery High$3.1M/yr expected annual loss, about 85 events a year
• Heat waveRelatively Moderate$6.6M/yr expected annual loss, about 10.0 events a year
• TornadoRelatively High$10.1M/yr expected annual loss, about 1.2 events a year
• WildfireRelatively Moderate$2.3M/yr expected annual loss, about once every 241 years
• Coastal floodingRelatively High$5.8M/yr expected annual loss, about 4.8 events a year
• DroughtRelatively Moderate$1.2M/yr expected annual loss, about 17 events a year
• Cold waveRelatively Moderate$4.8M/yr expected annual loss, about once every 1 year
• EarthquakeRelatively Low$2.5M/yr expected annual loss, about once every 853 years
• HailRelatively Moderate$953K/yr expected annual loss, about 1.7 events a year
• Winter weatherRelatively Moderate$204K/yr expected annual loss, about once every 1 year
• Strong windRelatively Moderate$1.2M/yr expected annual loss, about 1.9 events a year
• Ice stormRelatively Moderate$374K/yr expected annual loss, about once every 2 years
• LandslideRelatively Low$6,776/yr expected annual loss, about once every 3 years

Bars show the national percentile score (0 to 100) for each hazard. Dollar figures are expected annual losses to buildings, people and crops. Not rated here: avalanche, riverine flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Check the flood zone for an address

Homes with flood insurance

5,422 of 150,048 (3.6%)

Homes in high-risk flood zones

9,472

Insured in high-risk zones

4,277 (45%)

Flood claims since 1978

15,117

Claims paid since 1978

$369M

• Thunderstorm Wind304
• Flash Flood173
• Hail168
• Tornado77 · 1 death
• Lightning63 · 3 deaths
• Coastal Flood23
• Tropical Storm13
• Storm Surge/Tide13
• Heavy Rain12
• Waterspout11

• Hurricane (Typhoon)09/15/2020

  Mobile Coastal

  $76M damage

  What happened

  Hurricane Sally made landfall in Gulf Shores, AL at 5am on Wednesday, September 16th as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. Sally produced widespread wind, storm surge, and freshwater flooding across coastal AL and the western Florida Panhandle. Flood and wind damage also extended well inland into inland southwest Alabama and south central Alabama. Sally was an extremely slow moving hurricane, which prolonged and exacerbated the local impacts. The storm was moving at less than 5 mph at the time of landfall, resulting in a long duration of tropical storm and hurricane force winds, storm surge, and torrential rainfall. ||Storm surge and resultant damage was widespread and significant from Baldwin County eastward to Okaloosa County. The highest surge occurred in the bays and sounds of Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle, with generally lower values and lesser impacts on the immediate Gulf facing shores. A peak inundation of 7 to 9 feet above ground level was officially surveyed across some locations in the back bays and sounds of southeast Baldwin County, as well as the northern end of Escambia and Blackwater Bays. A larger area was...

• Rip Current08/02/2018

  Mobile Coastal

  2 deaths

  What happened

  A 47 year old father and his 17 year old son, visiting from Taiwan, were swept out by a rip current off of Dauphin Island and drowned.

• TornadoF1, 2 mi path, 500 yd wide01/27/1996

  Gulf Crest, Mobile County

  1 death, 3 injured, $100K damage

  What happened

  A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ALONG US HWY 45 NEAR GULF CREST AND THEN MOVED NORTHEAST FOR ABOUT 2 MILES. THREE PEOPLE WERE INJURED AND ONE OF THESE DIED IN A LOCAL HOSPITAL ABOUT A WEEK LATER. TWO ELDERLY WOMEN WERE IN A TRAILER THAT WAS TURNED OVER BY THE TORNADO. ANOTHER OF THE INJURED WAS IN A MOTOR HOME NEXT TO THE TRAILER. THE TRAILER WAS LOCATED ON A HILL AND THIS WAS WHERE THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN. OTHER HOMES AWAY FROM THE TRAILER SUFFERED ROOF DAMAGE AS THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST. TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND TWISTED ALONG THE PATH OF THE TORNADO.

• Rip Current04/13/2022

  Mobile Coastal

  1 death, 2 injured

  What happened

  Three swimmers were caught in a rip current on Dauphin Island, AL around 430 pm on April 13th. An 18 year old female from Hurley, MS was taken by USCG helicopter to a nearby hospital where she later died. Two other people were transported via ambulance but survived.

• Thunderstorm Wind61 kt wind07/03/2007

  Mobile, Mobile County

  8 injured, $3.5M damage

  What happened

  Eye witness interviews, archived radar data, photographic evidence and media reports indicate that a thunderstorm downburst with peak winds of 70 mph, accompanied by a gustnado along the leading edge of the gustfront, was the cause of the damage that occurred in the vicinity of the I-65 and Dauphin Street interchange at around 120 pm CST on the afternoon of July 3. |A short lived gustnado developed along the leading edge of the thunderstorm downburst near the Dauphin Way Baptist Church, just on the west side of I-65. Most reports indicate that the gustnado was visible along the gustfront for 30 to 60 seconds. Slight damage occurred to a couple of trees along Dauphin Street near the church. In that same area a car was damaged when it was pushed into a tree. The occupant of the car was wearing a seat belt and was uninjured, but the back window of the car was shattered and some body damage to the vehicle occurred. In addition, an approximate 5 by 8 foot section of shingles was torn away from the roof of the Dauphin Way Baptist Church, resulting in water damage to the church's interior. |The gustfront and accompanying gustnado then quickly moved east across I-65. A National...

• Rip Current08/01/2022

  Mobile Coastal

  1 death

  What happened

  A man in his 30s drowned due to a rip current on the West End Beach of Dauphin Island.

• Mobile, Bd. of W&s Comm. of the City ofServes 279,000 · Surface water · Local government1 health violation+3 monitoring or reporting
• Mobile County Water & Fire Pro AuthorityServes 39,573 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+30 monitoring or reporting
• South Alabama Utilities Water SystemServes 39,249 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+108 monitoring or reporting
• Prichard Water Works BoardServes 29,190 · Purchased surface water · Local government8 health violations+10 monitoring or reporting
• Saraland, Bd of W&s CommissionersServes 13,827 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+32 monitoring or reporting
• Grand Bay Water Works BoardServes 11,100 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+15 monitoring or reporting
• St. Elmo-Irvington Water AuthorityServes 10,284 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations
• Bayou La Batre, the Ub of the City ofServes 8,100 · Groundwater · Local governmentNo health violations+7 monitoring or reporting