52 flood insurance claims·$1.7M paid·2 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 Chattooga 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 driven by heavy rainfall dominates the flood history of Chattooga County, accounting for 47 out of 73 recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside 16 tropical storm events, 7 general floods with 1 death, and 3 hurricanes.
Severe weather impacts are well-documented in recent NOAA data. For example, a stationary boundary and saturated environment in September 2022 brought rainfall totals of 10 to 12 inches across Northwest Georgia, with isolated pockets in Chattooga County receiving over 15 inches and prompting a Flash Flood Emergency. Additionally, the inland passage of Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024 brought widespread heavy rainfall and hazardous wind gusts to the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, indicating that flood risk extends beyond designated high-risk areas. Zone A has accumulated 41 claims with an average payout of $31,456 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X has recorded 6 claims with an average payout of $33,638 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches, and Zone X_UNSHADED has seen 5 claims averaging $45,376 with an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay close attention to properties in both designated high-risk flood zones and unshaded moderate-to-low risk zones given the documented payouts and water depths across all categories.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Chattooga County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
46 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 5 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 35 claims and $1.1M 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.
48 NOAA storm reports from Chattooga County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 2 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 24, 2024 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 7, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 10, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 18, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 27, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2000 |
| Hurricane Opal | Oct 4, 1995 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
73 since 1996: 47 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 4, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 25, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 25, 2021 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 20, 2021 | $75,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 6, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 27, 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 · Sep 4, 2022. A stationary boundary draped across the area in combination with an abundantly saturated environment set the stage for an isolated, but significant Flash Flooding event for portions of Northwest Georgia, with isolated flooding across central Georgia. With a deeply moist and tropical airmass, rainfall totals across NW Georgia reached 10-12, with isolated pockets within Chattooga county seeing up to 15+, prompting t…
Flash Flood · Mar 25, 2021. A very moist and moderately unstable airmass over the region combined with strong shear and persistent southwesterly mid and upper flow produced numerous showers and thunderstorms across north and parts of central Georgia through the day on the 25th into the morning of the 26th. Numerous reports of flooding were received with several reports of severe thunderstorms and a few isolated tornadoes. Rainfall amounts of…
Flash Flood · Jun 20, 2021. Remnants of Tropical Storm Claudette produced heavy rainfall over north Georgia as it tracked from central Alabama eastward into the state on June 19 and June 20. The heaviest rainfall amounts extended from the Georgia border with Alabama eastward through Chattooga, Floyd, southern Walker, Gordon, Pickens and Dawson counties. In this strip, 2.5 to 4 inches were common, with higher amounts to 8 inches observed in p…
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 Chattooga 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.