5 flood insurance claims·$182,290 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 Screven 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, tropical storms, and general river or creek floods form the primary flood hazards in Screven County, based on 15 recorded events over the last 30 years in the NOAA Storm Events Database.
Recorded historical events include Tropical Storm Helene in September 2024, which brought severe impacts inland after making landfall in Florida as a major hurricane, and an extended period of areal flooding from low pressure systems in February 2020. Additionally, heavy rainfall caused a 78-acre pond's earthen dam to breach in July 2013, sending water, trees, and debris surging across Highway 17.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed across different zones with distinct loss profiles. Zone A properties account for 3 claims with an average payout of $6,572 and an average recorded water depth of 99 inches. Zone X properties account for 2 claims with an average payout of $84,573 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Property owners in both high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas (Zone A) and moderate-to-low risk areas (Zone X) should review their flood exposure, noting that lower-depth events in Zone X have resulted in significantly higher average payouts.
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 50 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 3 claims and $179,004 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.
4 NOAA storm reports from Screven County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 24, 2024 |
| Hurricane Debby | Aug 4, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Debby | Aug 4, 2024 |
| Hurricane Idalia | Aug 30, 2023 |
| Hurricane Michael | Oct 9, 2018 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 7, 2017 |
| Hurricane Matthew | Oct 4, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
15 since 1996: 6 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 20, 2020 | $225,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 2, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2013 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2013 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2013 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2013 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 3, 2007 | $3,000 |
— = 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…
Flood · Feb 20, 2020. Periods of low to moderate rainfall from several low pressure systems tracking over Southeast Georgia during early to mid February eventually led to an extended period of areal flooding across much of Screven County while waters were slow to runoff or recede.
Tropical Storm · Sep 2, 2016. Hermine developed as a Tropical Depression near the north coast of Cuba on August 28th. The depression then tracked westward into the central Gulf of Mexico and strengthened into a Tropical Storm. Hermine then tracked generally northeastward and strengthened into a Hurricane. According to the National Hurricane Center, Hermine made landfall as a Category 1 Hurricane at 1:30 am EDT on September 2nd along the Florid…
Flash Flood · Jul 13, 2013. A 78 acre pond overflowed due to excessive rainfall. Once the earthen dam breached, waters surged across Highway 17, taking numerous trees and debris with it.||In Chatham County, heavy rain produced flash flooding near Savannah. The official rainfall during the day was 2.55 inches, which broke the record for that day.
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 Screven 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.