61 flood insurance claims·$3.0M 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 Monroe 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.
Monroe County experiences flood risk driven primarily by tropical systems and heavy rainfall, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 14 tropical storms, 7 floods, 6 flash floods, and 3 hurricanes over the last 30 years. Extreme rainfall events can rapidly overwhelm local drainage and cause significant flash flooding, as demonstrated by storms in March 2023 and October 2021 that dropped localized rainfall totals ranging from 4 to over 10 inches across the region, including areas near Forsyth.
Federal insurance claims data indicates that property risk extends across multiple zones. Properties in Zone A have accounted for 49 claims with an average payout of $66,322 and an average recorded water depth of 24 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X have experienced 11 claims with an average payout of $31,443 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches, while one claim in an unknown zone recorded a $51,600 payout with 0 inches of average recorded water depth.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located within Zone A should pay the closest attention to flood risk, given the significantly higher average payouts and water depths associated with these areas, though properties in Zone X also face documented flood exposure.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Monroe County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
49 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 22 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 1994, with 25 claims and $2.3M paid.
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.
14 NOAA storm reports from Monroe County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 24, 2024 |
| Hurricane Michael | Oct 9, 2018 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 7, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 10, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 27, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | Mar 26, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 27, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
30 since 1996: 6 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 27, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 26, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 6, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 10, 2018 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2017 | $75,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 4, 2011 | — |
| Flood | Mar 28, 2009 | $500,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Mar 27, 2023. A prolonged, active weather pattern persisted across Georgia through late March, culminating in a series of disturbances that impacted the region March 25th through March 28th. In addition to numerous reports of damaging winds, hail and a few tornadoes, extreme rainfall amounts caused flash flooding over portions of the state. A swath of 4 or more inches of rain stretched from LaGrange, to Forsyth, to Augusta, wit…
Flash Flood · Mar 26, 2023. A prolonged, active weather pattern persisted across Georgia through late March, culminating in a series of disturbances that impacted the region March 25th through March 28th. In addition to numerous reports of damaging winds, hail and a few tornadoes, extreme rainfall amounts caused flash flooding over portions of the state. A swath of 4 or more inches of rain stretched from LaGrange, to Forsyth, to Augusta, wit…
Flash Flood · Oct 6, 2021. A very moist and marginally unstable airmass ahead of a deep upper-level low over the lower Mississippi Valley resulted one report of a tree down and several flash flooding reports over middle Georgia. Heavy rainfall amounts of 1.5 to 3 inches were observed along a line from Thomaston to Gray to Eatonton to Comer, with pockets of higher amounts between 4 and 8 inches.
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.
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 Monroe 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.