Storms, floods and disasters in Axis
Axis isn’t graded for hazard risk: Axis has 326 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Axis faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
Hurricanes
River and rain flooding
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Axis flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Axis. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Axis isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Mobile County.8 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Axis
Disasters that paid out in Axis itself (aid to households or repair grants to Axis), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2023Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes1 households applied for aid$300 aid approved
- 2020Hurricane Zeta41 households applied for aid$50K aid approved
- 2020Hurricane Sally110 households applied for aid$218K aid approved
- 2014Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding26 households applied for aid$34K aid approved
- 2005Hurricane Katrina268 households applied for aid$234K aid approved
- 2005Hurricane Dennis29 households applied for aid$13K aid approved
Show all 8
- 2004Hurricane Ivan185 households applied for aid$311K aid approved
- 2003Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding54 households applied for aid$125K aid approved
Mobile County has had 32 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then severe storms.
Old photos of Axis after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Axis archive →Axis and its neighbors
How expected damage per building compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its hazards.
Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Get ready for what Axis faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Axis
Is Axis in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Mobile County, 45% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 3.6% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Axis?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Axis’ flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Axis?
By FEMA money that reached Axis, Hurricane Ivan (2004): 185 households applied for aid, $311K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Axis.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Axis’ residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.