17 flood insurance claims·$382,969 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 Long 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 floods and tropical systems dominate the recorded flood history of Long County. According to NOAA Storm Events Database records from the last 30 years, the county experienced 6 flash flood events, 5 tropical storms, 3 tropical depressions, and 1 hurricane. Recent documented activity includes Tropical Storm Debby in August 2024 and Hurricane Helene in September 2024, alongside earlier tropical systems such as Tropical Storm Elsa in July 2021 and Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.
National Flood Insurance Program records reflect claims across different zones. Zone A accounts for 12 claims with an average payout of $62,925 and an average recorded water depth of 74 inches. Zone X accounts for 5 claims with an average payout of $34,171 and an average recorded water depth of 99 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to these flood risks, as both zones have experienced documented property damage and significant water depths during past severe weather events.
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 77 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 2024, with 13 claims and $363,622 paid, the year of Hurricane Debby and Hurricane Helene.
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.
5 NOAA storm reports from Long County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
18 federal disaster declarations since 1966, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 24, 2024 |
| Hurricane Debby | Aug 4, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Debby | Aug 4, 2024 |
| Hurricane Dorian | Aug 29, 2019 |
| Hurricane Michael | Oct 9, 2018 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 7, 2017 |
| Hurricane Matthew | Oct 4, 2016 |
| Elan Church Road Fire | Mar 25, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
15 since 1996: 6 flash floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 5, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Depression | Jul 7, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Depression | Sep 4, 2019 | — |
| Tropical Depression | Sep 11, 2017 | $200,000 |
| Tropical Storm | May 27, 2012 | $500 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 28, 2009 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2008 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 26, 2024. Helene first developed into a tropical storm in the northwest Caribbean Sea in the late morning of September 24, and strengthened into a hurricane near the Yucatan peninsula about 24 hours later. Helene continued to strengthen and became a major hurricane as it moved to the north-northeast across the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Helene made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida in the late evening hours of Septemb…
Flash Flood · Aug 5, 2024. Debby first developed into a tropical storm about 100 miles west-southwest of Key West, Florida late afternoon on August 3rd, then gradually strengthened to a strong tropical storm while tracking north across the eastern Gulf of Mexico on August 4th. Debby then reached hurricane force strength late on August 4th about 100 miles west-northwest of Tampa, before continuing a north-northeast track across the eastern G…
Tropical Depression · Jul 7, 2021. Elsa initially developed as a Tropical Depression over the central tropical Atlantic late in the evening of June 30th, 2021. The system quickly tracked to the west-northwest and became Tropical Storm Elsa on the morning of July 1st, 2021 about 850 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands. Elsa strengthened to a hurricane and crossed the Windward Islands on July 2nd, 2021. Over the next several days, Elsa moved…
Tropical Depression · Sep 4, 2019. Dorian started as a Tropical Depression in the south-central Atlantic Ocean on August 24th. Dorian quickly became a Tropical Storm and moved with a west-northwestward motion as it moved through the Lesser Antilles. Dorian became a Hurricane near Puerto Rico on the evening of August 28th. As it moved to the northwest and then west-northwest, Dorian underwent rapid intensification and became one of the strongest Cat…
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 Long 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.