22 flood insurance claims·$1.7M paid·6 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 Habersham 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.
Habersham County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by flash floods and standard riverine floods, backed by occasional tropical storm impacts over the last 30 years. Recent recorded events include widespread heavy rainfall and flooding associated with Tropical Cyclone Helene in September 2024, as well as a major frontal system in January 2024 that brought 3 to 5 inches of rain in approximately 12 hours, resulting in flooding along larger streams.
Historical National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in high-risk Zone A face the most severe impacts, accounting for 15 claims with an average payout of $138,624 and an average recorded water depth of 14 inches. By comparison, properties in Zone X recorded 5 claims with an average payout of $16,744 and an average water depth of 1 inch, while unknown zones recorded 2 claims averaging $3,500 with an average water depth of 1 inch.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, where average flood depths and claim payouts are significantly higher than in other zones.
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 12 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 2020, with 14 claims and $1.7M paid, the year of Tropical Storm Zeta.
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.
18 NOAA storm reports from Habersham County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1976, 6 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, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 27, 2011 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 27, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
46 since 1996: 23 flash floods and 21 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | $5,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | $300,000 |
| Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Mar 26, 2021 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Aug 17, 2021 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 17, 2021 | $2,000 |
| Flood | Oct 7, 2021 | $500 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Flash Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Tropical Storm · Sep 27, 2024. Tropical Cyclone Helene began organizing over the western Caribbean on the 23rd and 24th of September before rapidly intensifying as it moved north through the eastern Gulf of Mexico on the 25th and 26th. A plume of moisture extending from the intensifying storm interacted with a slow-moving cold front to produce a band of widespread heavy rain showers and embedded scattered thunderstorms over the southern Appalac…
Flood · Jan 9, 2024. A major/complex frontal system brought widespread rain with embedded thunderstorms to northeast Georgia, mainly during the late morning and afternoon of the 9th. Widespread rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches (with locally higher amounts) in around 12 hours resulted in flooding along a couple of larger streams.
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 Habersham 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.