60 flood insurance claims·$5.5M paid·4 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Carroll County, Georgia. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms and tropical systems dominates the flood risk profile in Carroll County, which recorded 21 flash flood events and 14 tropical storm events over the last 30 years alongside standard river floods and hurricane impacts.
Recent historic impacts include Tropical Storm Zeta in October 2020, which swept rapidly across north Georgia producing isolated flooding, and the remnants of Hurricane Helene in September 2024, which brought widespread heavy rainfall and wind gusts following a prolonged period of moisture. Flash flooding events, such as those driven by heavy rainstorms in July 2018 and July 2021, have triggered water rescues when saturated soils failed to absorb additional rainfall.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed across multiple zones, with Zone A properties experiencing the highest financial impact through 29 claims averaging a $171,151 payout and an average of 8 inches of recorded water depth. Properties in Zone X and Zone X_UNSHADED also experienced vulnerability, logging 24 claims with an average $43,319 payout and 6 inches of recorded water depth, and 6 claims with an average $7,600 payout and 6 inches of recorded water depth respectively. Homeowners in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to local flood advisories and insurance coverage.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
17% of Carroll County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
35 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 7 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2009, with 20 claims and $2.8M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
14 NOAA storm reports from Carroll County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 24, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Zeta | Oct 29, 2020 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 7, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Dec 22, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 10, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 18, 2009 |
| Severe Storms And Tornadoes | May 11, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
47 since 1996: 21 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | $35,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 20, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2018 | $40,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2018 | $45,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2017 | $150,000 |
| Flash Flood | Dec 24, 2015 | $866,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 26, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in the Big Bend region of Florida at 11 PM EDT. Helene moved quickly inland bringing wind gusts between 50 and 100 mph to portions of east and central Georgia. Widespread rainfall totals between 6 and 14 inches were observed in association with Helene across north and central Georgia. The highest rainfall amounts were primarily observed in portions of east-c…
Flash Flood · Jul 20, 2021. Afternoon showers and thunderstorms produced widespread heavy rain over north and central Georgia on the evening of July 19th and 20th. Rainfall amounts ranged from 1 to 3 inches, with pockets of 3 to 5 inches over northeast Georgia and the Atlanta metro area. As a result, flash flooding occurred, including several reports of water rescues. These rainfall amounts occurred during a prolonged persistent period of ab…
Tropical Storm · Oct 28, 2020. During the late evening of October 28th through the morning of October 29th, Tropical Storm Zeta swept rapidly across north Georgia producing widespread wind damage and isolated flooding across north and portions of central Georgia. Around 1.5 million customers lost electricity for some period of time, some for several days.
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2018. A continued moist and moderately unstable air mass over the region combined with daytime heating to produce isolated severe thunderstorms each afternoon and evening.
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Carroll County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.