Flood Help Guide

Georgia flood insurance and flood history

From FEMA's flood insurance and disaster data · Updated 2026-10-08

24,479NFIP flood claims since 1978
$520.4 millionPaid on those claims
$38,145Average paid claimlast 10 years
1.6%Homes with NFIP flood insurance
6Flood disaster declarationssince 2000

FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) data lists 24,479 flood insurance claims in Georgia since 1978. The NFIP paid $520.4 million on them (building, contents and Increased Cost of Compliance payments, in the dollars of the year paid).

The year with the most claims was 2009, with 2,985, mostly from Late summer storms.

In the last ten years (2017–2026) there were 6,028 claims, and the average paid claim was $38,145.

35% of the claims with a recorded flood zone came from buildings outside FEMA's high-risk zones (rated zones B, C and X).

About 1.6% of homes in Georgia had an NFIP flood policy in FEMA's latest count (58,557 of 3,659,988 residential buildings). In the high-risk flood zones (Special Flood Hazard Areas), it was 43% (31,313 of 72,253).

Since 2000, FEMA has made 6 flood-related disaster declarations covering parts of Georgia. The most recent was DR-4738-GA (Hurricane Idalia), declared September 7, 2023.

Flood insurance claims in Georgia by year

NFIP flood claims per year in Georgia, 1978 to 202601.2k2.5k3.8k5k1978: 80 claims, $126,047 paid1979: 636 claims, $3.2 million paid1980: 230 claims, $738,941 paid19801981: 71 claims, $189,663 paid1982: 371 claims, $1.9 million paid1983: 159 claims, $548,049 paid1984: 119 claims, $313,367 paid1985: 89 claims, $789,598 paid1986: 50 claims, $254,161 paid1987: 100 claims, $230,596 paid1988: 24 claims, $93,383 paid1989: 160 claims, $808,540 paid1990: 633 claims, $9.7 million paid19901991: 253 claims, $2.5 million paid1992: 225 claims, $1.2 million paid1993: 92 claims, $271,165 paid1994: 2,093 claims, $47.9 million paid1995: 444 claims, $3.1 million paid1996: 632 claims, $6.8 million paid1997: 174 claims, $859,664 paid1998: 1,349 claims, $16.5 million paid1999: 1,261 claims, $17.5 million paid2000: 143 claims, $1.1 million paid20002001: 95 claims, $1.1 million paid2002: 168 claims, $1.4 million paid2003: 477 claims, $4.4 million paid2004: 997 claims, $28.6 million paid2005: 912 claims, $13.8 million paid2006: 77 claims, $943,524 paid2007: 98 claims, $630,972 paid2008: 124 claims, $636,103 paid2009: 2,985 claims, $134.5 million paid2010: 233 claims, $2.2 million paid20102011: 98 claims, $479,240 paid2012: 173 claims, $3.3 million paid2013: 498 claims, $6.3 million paid2014: 159 claims, $1.5 million paid2015: 661 claims, $11.1 million paid2016: 1,308 claims, $22.5 million paid2017: 2,413 claims, $69.6 million paid2018: 295 claims, $5.6 million paid2019: 194 claims, $3.1 million paid2020: 778 claims, $20.2 million paid20202021: 410 claims, $7.6 million paid2022: 186 claims, $3.6 million paid2023: 242 claims, $6.7 million paid2024: 1,268 claims, $49.7 million paid2025: 156 claims, $2.9 million paid2026: 86 claims, $1.0 million paid
NFIP claims per year by year of loss. Hover or tap a bar for the count and amount paid. 2026 is partial.
Show as a table
YearClaimsPaid
202686$1.0 million
2025156$2.9 million
20241,268$49.7 million
2023242$6.7 million
2022186$3.6 million
2021410$7.6 million
2020778$20.2 million
2019194$3.1 million
2018295$5.6 million
20172,413$69.6 million
20161,308$22.5 million
2015661$11.1 million
2014159$1.5 million
2013498$6.3 million
2012173$3.3 million
201198$479,240
2010233$2.2 million
20092,985$134.5 million
2008124$636,103
200798$630,972
200677$943,524
2005912$13.8 million
2004997$28.6 million
2003477$4.4 million
2002168$1.4 million
200195$1.1 million
2000143$1.1 million
19991,261$17.5 million
19981,349$16.5 million
1997174$859,664
1996632$6.8 million
1995444$3.1 million
19942,093$47.9 million
199392$271,165
1992225$1.2 million
1991253$2.5 million
1990633$9.7 million
1989160$808,540
198824$93,383
1987100$230,596
198650$254,161
198589$789,598
1984119$313,367
1983159$548,049
1982371$1.9 million
198171$189,663
1980230$738,941
1979636$3.2 million
197880$126,047

Biggest flood events by NFIP payments

The flood events FEMA's claims data names most often for Georgia, ranked by what the NFIP paid. FEMA names events in its claims records; claims without an event name aren't included here.

EventYearClaimsPaid
Late summer storms20092,363$124.6 million
Hurricane Irma20172,099$65.6 million
Tropical Storm Alberto1994987$36.7 million
Hurricane Helene2024670$31.5 million
Tropical Storm Ivan2004862$27.8 million
Hurricane Matthew20161,114$21.2 million
Flooding19991,158$17.2 million
Flooding19981,025$14.5 million
Early winter storms2015441$9.7 million
Flooding1994778$8.3 million

Flood history by county

Every Georgia county in FEMA's data, sorted by number of NFIP claims since 1978. "Insured" is the share of homes with an NFIP policy.

CountyClaimsPaidInsuredFlood declarations
Chatham County5,467$82.5 million20.6%0
Fulton County3,100$95.8 million0.8%1
Cobb County2,031$66.9 million1.0%1
DeKalb County1,998$29.2 million1.1%1
Glynn County1,996$43.5 million31.1%1
Dougherty County1,255$28.4 million2.7%2
Lee County700$16.7 million1.9%1
Richmond County574$5.2 million0.9%0
Gwinnett County487$10.4 million0.4%1
Floyd County382$3.4 million0.6%1
Camden County346$6.3 million14.9%2
Catoosa County324$5.6 million0.9%2
Clayton County286$3.3 million0.4%0
Bryan County285$5.8 million20.9%0
Muscogee County243$2.3 million0.8%1
Douglas County215$7.2 million0.4%2
Decatur County204$4.8 million1.5%2
Gilmer County199$5.2 million1.2%1
Bulloch County183$4.9 million1.7%2
Liberty County174$2.9 million6.7%0
Columbia County164$2.1 million0.9%0
Fayette County163$1.9 million1.1%1
Houston County162$1.9 million0.7%1
Bibb County155$3.8 million0.4%0
Polk County143$981,2130.6%1
Lowndes County135$5.0 million0.8%3
Walker County135$3.6 million0.5%2
Mitchell County100$2.1 million1.5%1
Whitfield County93$5.2 million0.4%0
Fannin County92$850,3971.7%1
Tift County90$3.6 million0.8%2
Seminole County80$1.7 million2.2%1
Henry County78$1.2 million0.4%0
Effingham County77$1.1 million3.0%0
Troup County76$1.9 million0.2%2
Cherokee County73$5.6 million0.2%2
Crisp County70$2.2 million1.9%2
Rockdale County70$1.5 million0.3%1
Forsyth County66$928,2520.3%0
McIntosh County66$1.0 million7.9%1
Colquitt County64$1.3 million0.3%3
Thomas County63$2.6 million0.6%3
Monroe County61$3.0 million0.6%2
Union County61$678,1510.9%1
Carroll County60$5.5 million0.3%2
White County58$693,3770.5%1
Paulding County54$891,5120.3%1
Chattooga County52$1.7 million0.2%1
Bartow County50$906,8510.5%2
Laurens County49$1.3 million0.2%0
Butts County47$1.6 million1.1%0
Hall County46$733,4540.1%0
Coffee County45$923,7760.2%2
Newton County45$736,2540.3%3
Gordon County44$1.8 million0.5%1
Ware County44$286,5990.8%3
Murray County42$611,8270.1%0
Baker County40$657,0951.1%3
Early County40$902,0550.5%1
Charlton County39$1.2 million0.6%1
Clarke County38$205,9000.4%0
Coweta County38$461,4960.3%2
Toombs County36$458,0540.5%2
Worth County35$480,5910.7%2
Walton County33$285,7510.2%0
Montgomery County32$460,9320.3%3
Rabun County31$401,3711.1%1
Towns County31$240,8890.8%1
Appling County28$561,1061.1%3
Tattnall County26$398,9740.4%3
Upson County26$343,3060.1%4
Spalding County24$153,4910.3%1
Brantley County23$425,6560.8%3
Ben Hill County22$179,4400.3%1
Habersham County22$1.7 million0.2%1
Dooly County19$323,1420.6%1
Lumpkin County18$261,3840.2%1
Long County17$382,9693.7%0
Brooks County16$443,1620.2%3
Miller County16$333,7660.6%1
Sumter County16$125,6550.7%0
Pulaski County15$254,3240.6%1
Pickens County14$162,2470.3%2
Washington County14$223,8340.3%0
Grady County13$167,9990.1%1
Stephens County13$101,5290.3%1
Barrow County11$345,7110.1%0
Harris County11$118,0190.5%2
Jeff Davis County11$48,3250.3%3
Pierce County11$344,8470.3%2
Jenkins County10$60,8170.5%1
Jones County10$97,5230.2%0
Wheeler County10$82,0940.5%1
Cook County9$146,2110.9%3
Dade County9$108,6960.4%2
Jasper County9$128,4170.5%1
Berrien County8$155,8970.3%3
Baldwin County7$85,1590.2%0
Evans County7$388,5890.4%0
Jackson County7$65,7230.2%0
Wayne County7$56,1880.5%2
Candler County6$124,0280.3%1
Emanuel County6$4,7770.2%1
Peach County6$237,3790.2%1
Talbot County6$104,1310.1%1
Telfair County6$91,9660.1%1
Terrell County6$57,8490.2%0
Calhoun County5$100,7060.2%2
Clinch County5$1,1001.9%2
Elbert County5$13,7320.1%0
Lamar County5$195,6440.2%3
Lanier County5$35,8440.5%2
Macon County5$37,7100.2%1
Putnam County5$21,8630.3%1
Screven County5$182,2900.4%1
Oconee County4$34,8300.3%0
Pike County4$13,4410.1%0
Taylor County4$7,0040.0%2
Dawson County3$4,1410.3%1
Heard County3$3,1010.0%2
Atkinson County2$1,6400.2%2
Banks County2$53,4580.1%0
Burke County2$61,8250.1%1
Chattahoochee County2$2,4200.0%1
Greene County2$5,8390.3%2
Jefferson County2$11,4430.2%0
Johnson County2$36,9490.0%0
Madison County2$1,4480.1%0
Bacon County1$00.1%2
Bleckley County1$6,2030.3%0
Dodge County1$00.1%1
Echols County1$50,7110.2%3
Franklin County1$12,2180.0%0
Haralson County1$46,8450.1%1
Hart County1$00.1%0
Irwin County1$1,4320.1%1
McDuffie County1$00.1%0
Morgan County1$00.1%2
Quitman County1$3350.1%0
Randolph County1$1,0350.0%1
Turner County1$00.3%2
Twiggs County1$1,5630.0%0
Clay County0$00.1%1
Crawford County0$00.1%2
Glascock County0$00.0%0
Hancock County0$00.1%0
Lincoln County0$00.1%0
Marion County0$00.0%1
Meriwether County0$00.1%2
Oglethorpe County0$00.1%1
Schley County0$00.0%0
Stewart County0$00.0%1
Taliaferro County0$00.1%1
Treutlen County0$00.1%1
Warren County0$00.0%0
Webster County0$00.1%1
Wilcox County0$00.2%2
Wilkes County0$00.0%1
Wilkinson County0$00.0%0

Flood-related FEMA disaster declarations in Georgia

Declarations since 2000 that FEMA lists as involving flooding. "Help for individuals" means FEMA's Individual Assistance was approved for at least part of the area.

DeclarationDeclaredEventHelp for individuals
DR-4738-GA Sep 7, 2023 Hurricane Idalia Yes
DR-4297-GA Jan 26, 2017 Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding Yes
DR-4259-GA Feb 26, 2016 Severe Storms and Flooding No
DR-1973-GA Apr 29, 2011 Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Associated Flooding Yes
DR-1858-GA Sep 24, 2009 Severe Storms and Flooding Yes
DR-1833-GA Apr 23, 2009 Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds Yes

What to do with this

A county's history doesn't tell you your own building's risk. To see your property's flood zone, use FEMA's flood map lookup. To weigh coverage, start with do I need flood insurance? and what flood insurance costs.

Where these numbers come from

All figures on this page are calculated from FEMA's public OpenFEMA datasets:

FEMA's redacted claims data doesn't identify properties, and FEMA notes that some records lack a county or flood zone. See how we use the data.