33 flood insurance claims·$285,751 paid·1 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 Walton 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 storms dominate the flood history of Walton County, Georgia, accounting for the majority of recorded events over the last 30 years alongside standard floods and hurricanes. Recent weather history includes severe impacts from heavy rainfall, such as a line of thunderstorms that dropped common rainfall amounts of 2 to 3.5 inches on January 9, 2024. Additionally, Hurricane Helene brought widespread rainfall totals between 6 and 14 inches to north and central Georgia on September 26 and 27, 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that property damage occurs across multiple zones, with 19 claims in Zone X resulting in an average payout of $13,604 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Meanwhile, Zone A accounts for 14 claims with an average payout of $17,500 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in both designated high-risk flood areas and moderate-to-low risk Zone X properties should pay close attention to these risks, as claims and water accumulation occur across both zones during severe precipitation events.
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 3 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 2015, with 8 claims and $48,754 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.
23 NOAA storm reports from Walton County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
13 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2026 |
| Hurricane Helene | Sep 24, 2024 |
| Hurricane Irma | Sep 7, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 10, 2014 |
| Hurricane Katrina Evacuation | Aug 27, 2005 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 22, 2000 |
| Severe Snowfall, Winter Storm | Mar 13, 1993 |
| Tornadoes, High Winds & Heavy Rains | Feb 21, 1993 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
44 since 1996: 20 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 26, 2024 | $60,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jan 9, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 28, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 4, 2023 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 29, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 17, 2020 | — |
— = 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…
Tropical Storm · Sep 26, 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…
Flash Flood · Jan 9, 2024. A line of thunderstorms moved across Georgia during the morning and early afternoon hours of the 9th. Most of the severe thunderstorms was collocated with the greatest instability across South-Central and East-Central Georgia. However, increased shear along the base of CAD was enough to organize an embedded cell which traversed the Atlanta Metro Area. This cell developed a brief circulation, necessitating a tornad…
Flash Flood · Aug 28, 2023. Thunderstorms formed along a stationary boundary located draped across west-central and northwest GA on the 28th and 29th. Significant tropical moisture ahead of Hurricane Idalia led to several thunderstorms becoming strong to severe. The main hazards included damaging winds and torrential rainfall.
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 Walton 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.