36 flood insurance claims·$458,054 paid·7 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 Toombs 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.
Tropical storms and hurricanes drive the primary flood risks in Toombs County, backed by decades of recorded storm events alongside multiple flash flood and standard flood occurrences.
Recent impacts are exemplified by Hurricane Idalia in August 2023, which brought tropical storm-force winds and 3 to 6 inches of rain that caused tree and powerline damage across the county. Subsequently, Hurricane Helene in September 2024 brought widespread heavy rainfall totals between 6 and 14 inches and wind gusts between 50 and 100 mph to portions of east and central Georgia.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in Zone A face the highest concentration of risk, accounting for 33 claims with an average payout of $15,733 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X have recorded fewer claims but higher average payouts of $20,739 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents working within Zone A should pay the closest attention to these flood risks, given the historical frequency of tropical systems and recorded claim depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Toombs County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
33 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 5 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 2020, with 7 claims and $24,036 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.
18 NOAA storm reports from Toombs County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1966, 7 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.
34 since 1996: 6 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | $40,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 19, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 10, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 3, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 22, 2017 | — |
— = 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…
Hurricane (Typhoon) · 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…
Tropical Storm · Aug 30, 2023. Hurricane Idalia made landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida as a category 3 hurricane. As Idalia moved inland to the northeast, it brought tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain to much of south Georgia, including far southeast counties of NWS Peachtree City CWFA (Telfair to Toombs county) where winds gusted between 40-50 mph and 3 to 6 inches of rain occurred. Damage to trees and powerlines was observed i…
Flash Flood · Apr 19, 2020. A warm front over central Georgia combined with low pressure riding along this boundary produced wind damage and enhanced rainfall over the area. ||An axis of extremely heavy rainfall set up in a zone from Columbus to Warner Robins as the result of training storms along the warm front. Rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches were common, resulting in 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 Toombs 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.