3 flood insurance claims·$4,141 paid·5 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 Dawson 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 systems dominate the flood risk profile in Dawson County, reflecting a historical event mix led by 17 flash floods and 15 tropical storms over the last 30 years, alongside 3 standard floods and 3 hurricanes.
Recent impacts are documented by significant regional weather events, including Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024, which brought widespread heavy rainfall across north and central Georgia. Additionally, a strong cold front produced heavy rainfall ranging from 1.5 to 6 inches and subsequent flash flooding in February 2020.
Historical National Flood Insurance Program records show limited claims data specifically within Zone A, which recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $4,141 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located within Zone A should pay the closest attention to these localized flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 1 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.
16 NOAA storm reports from Dawson County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 5 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 Winter Storm | Feb 15, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 10, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 18, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 27, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
38 since 1996: 17 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 10, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 6, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 6, 2020 | $50,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2017 | $600,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 22, 2013 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 19, 2013 | $50,000 |
— = 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…
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.
Flash Flood · Feb 6, 2020. A line of thunderstorms ahead of a strong cold front moved into northwest Georgia in the pre-dawn hours and swept across north and central Georgia through the morning into the afternoon producing numerous reports of damaging thunderstorm winds and an isolated tornado. Storms along the front also produced heavy rainfall, ranging from 1.5 to 4 inches, with higher amounts up to 6 inches, particularly over north Georg…
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 Dawson 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.