286 flood insurance claims·$3.3M paid·3 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 Clayton 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 and tropical storm impacts from heavy rainfall events dominate the flood profile of Clayton County, Georgia, drawing from 16 flash flood events, 15 tropical storm events, 5 general flood events, and 3 hurricane events recorded over the last 30 years. Recent significant events include Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024, which brought widespread heavy rainfall totals between 6 and 14 inches to north and central Georgia, and flash flooding driven by slow-moving storms in August 2020 that produced isolated rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property damage occurs across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for the highest claim volume with 169 claims averaging an $18,809 payout and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Properties in Zone X recorded 86 claims with an average payout of $15,110 and an average recorded water depth of 18 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone X_UNSHADED, Zone X_SHADED, and Zone UNKNOWN.
Homeowners and real estate agents in Clayton County should pay the most attention to properties located within designated Zone A floodplains, which experience the highest frequency of claims, as well as properties in Zone X where average recorded water depths reach 18 inches during flooding events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
15% of Clayton County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
198 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 9 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 2005, with 33 claims and $287,065 paid, the year of Hurricane Katrina Evacuation.
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.
16 NOAA storm reports from Clayton County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
15 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 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 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 27, 2005 |
| Hurricane Ivan | Sep 14, 2004 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Feb 14, 1998 |
| Hurricane Opal | Oct 4, 1995 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
39 since 1996: 16 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 30, 2020 | $35,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 10, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 10, 2020 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2019 | $45,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2019 | — |
— = 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 · Aug 30, 2020. A very moist and moderately unstable air mass persisted over the region. Strong daytime heating resulted in isolated strong to severe thunderstorms over parts of north and central Georgia. Training and slow-moving storms produced heavy rainfall, with isolated amounts of 3 to 5 inches. Flash flooding occurred in Clayton County due to the quickly accumulating rainfall amounts.
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 · Oct 10, 2020. During the afternoon and evening of October 10th, as the remnants of Hurricane Delta passed northwest of Georgia, moisture from the Gulf of Mexico spread across the area. Several weak tornadoes occurred in north and central Georgia in addition to pockets of heavy rainfall and flooding across the Atlanta metropolitan area and portions of northeast Georgia.
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 Clayton 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.