Storms, floods and disasters in Sweet Water
Sweet Water isn’t graded for hazard risk: Sweet Water has 216 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Sweet Water faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
Strong wind
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 Sweet Water flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Sweet Water. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Sweet Water isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Marengo County.4 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Sweet Water
Disasters that paid out in Sweet Water itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Sweet Water), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2020Hurricane Zeta142 households applied for aid$244K aid approved
- 2011Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding80 households applied for aid$289K aid approved
- 2005Hurricane Katrina126 households applied for aid$50K aid approved
- 2004Hurricane Ivan303 households applied for aid$520K aid approved
Marengo County has had 17 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then severe storms.
Old photos of Sweet Water after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Sweet Water archive →Get ready for what Sweet Water faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- 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.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Trim dead limbs over the house and driveway.
- Tie down trash cans and outdoor furniture.
- Stay clear of downed lines and call the utility.
- 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 Sweet Water
Is Sweet Water 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 Marengo County, 12% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.8% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Sweet Water?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Sweet Water’s 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 Sweet Water?
By FEMA money that reached Sweet Water, Hurricane Ivan (2004): 303 households applied for aid, $520K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Sweet Water.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Sweet Water’s 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.