54 flood insurance claims·$887,598 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 Paulding 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 recorded flood events in Paulding County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database records 19 flash flood events, 14 tropical storm events, 9 general flood events, and 3 hurricane events. Specific recent occurrences include heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms that caused flash flooding on December 30, 2021, as well as the inland impacts of Hurricane Helene in September 2024, which brought widespread rainfall and strong wind gusts to the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend across different zones. Properties in Zone X account for 33 claims with an average payout of $17,257 and an average recorded water depth of 14 inches. Properties in Zone A account for 20 claims with an average payout of $38,823 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED accounts for 1 claim with an average payout of $11,886 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in both designated high-risk and moderate-to-low risk zones should pay attention to these historical claim patterns when evaluating property vulnerability.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Paulding County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
21 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 11 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 2009, with 33 claims and $839,441 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding.
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.
19 NOAA storm reports from Paulding County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1966, 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 10, 2014 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 18, 2009 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 27, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2000 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
45 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 31, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 30, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 4, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 3, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 10, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 12, 2018 | — |
— = 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…
Flood · Mar 31, 2021. Strong thunderstorms ahead of a cold front produced numerous reports of flooding across portions of north Georgia and scattered reports of damaging winds across parts of north and central Georgia. Rainfall was highest over far northwest Georgia where totals ranged from 2 to 3.5 inches with locally higher amounts.
Flash Flood · Dec 30, 2021. Within an unseasonably warm and moist low-level environment, a strong southwest upper level flow with an intense mid-level shortwave ejecting across the Central Plains/Midwest regions resulted in a line of strong to severe thunderstorms (along with heavy rain) across north Georgia during the evening and overnight hours of 29-30 December 2021. The remnant boundary/front settled over central Georgia during the after…
Flash Flood · May 4, 2021. A series of upper-level short waves moved across the region in persistent, southwesterly upper-level flow combined with moderate instability and shear to produce several rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms across north and central Georgia. Some of these storms dumped 2 to 4 inches of rain over the area, resulting in isolated flash flooding.
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 Paulding 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.