90 flood insurance claims·$3.6M 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 Tift 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.
Tift County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by regular flood events, tropical storms, and flash flooding. Over the past 30 years, recorded events include 13 floods, 10 tropical storms, 9 flash floods, and 2 hurricanes. Recent severe weather includes significant flash flooding and hurricane impacts in September 2024, as well as a major regional flash flood event spanning late April 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrate that flood risks extend across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for 56 claims with an average payout of $56,304 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Zone X records 25 claims with an average payout of $63,862 and an average recorded water depth of 16 inches. Additionally, Zone X Unshaded accounts for 5 claims averaging $29,242 with an average water depth of 3 inches, while Zone X Shaded records 4 claims averaging $1,602 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, which has received the highest volume of claims, as well as properties in Zone X, which have recorded the highest average water depths and payouts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
14% of Tift County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
65 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 8 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 2012, with 20 claims and $1.0M 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.
26 NOAA storm reports from Tift County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 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 Idalia | Aug 30, 2023 |
| Hurricane Michael | Oct 9, 2018 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 7, 2017 |
| 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.
34 since 1996: 9 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Sep 26, 2024 | $10.0M |
| Flash Flood | Sep 25, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 11, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | $50,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Nov 10, 2022 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 24, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Feb 18, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Sep 27, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb (27.70 inches) at about 11:10 PM EDT on Thursday, September 26th, in Taylor County Florida just east of the Aucilla River. Helene quickly moved inland across Taylor and Madison Counties before moving into Lowndes County in South Central Georgia. The hurricane produced a devastat…
Hurricane (Typhoon) · Sep 26, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb (27.70 inches) at about 11:10 PM EDT on Thursday, September 26th, in Taylor County Florida just east of the Aucilla River. Helene quickly moved inland across Taylor and Madison Counties before moving into Lowndes County in South Central Georgia. The hurricane produced a devastat…
Flash Flood · Sep 25, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 938 mb (27.70 inches) at about 11:10 PM EDT on Thursday, September 26th, in Taylor County Florida just east of the Aucilla River. Helene quickly moved inland across Taylor and Madison Counties before moving into Lowndes County in South Central Georgia. The hurricane produced a devastat…
Flash Flood · Apr 11, 2024. A major flash flood event occurred across portions of the Florida big bend and southern Georgia during the late night hours of April 10th through the early morning hours of April 11th. Between 6 and 10 inches of rain fell with localized higher amounts, particularly over Tallahassee. This resulted in rapid water rises across Tallahassee with numerous cars and structures flooded. Several million dollars in flood…
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 Tift 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.