44 flood insurance claims·$286,599 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 Ware 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.
Flooding and flash flooding from tropical systems and severe weather events dominate the local flood history, complemented by multiple tropical storm events over the last 30 years according to the NOAA Storm Events Database. Recent historical impacts include Hurricane Debby in August 2024, which brought widespread inland flooding, flash flooding, and moderate to major river flooding across inland Southeast Georgia. Additionally, tropical moisture from Hurricane Rafael produced localized heavy rainfall and flash flooding in November 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims concentrated heavily in Zone A, which accounts for 37 claims with an average payout of $13,071 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in Zone X recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $8,134 and an average water depth of 1 inch, while Zone X unshaded recorded 2 claims with an average payout of $4,105 and an average water depth of 2 inches. Unknown zones recorded 2 claims averaging $700 with an average water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within Zone A, as these areas experience the highest frequency of claims and greater average water depths during flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Ware County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
39 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 4 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 2017, with 6 claims and $52,719 paid, the year of Hurricane Irma.
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.
6 NOAA storm reports from Ware County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 6 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 |
| West Mims Fire | May 6, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jan 21, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
16 since 1996: 6 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 7, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jun 11, 2022 | $500 |
| Flood | Dec 2, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Jul 31, 2015 | — |
| Flood | Apr 2, 2009 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 27, 2024. Hurricane Helene made landfall as a category 4 with peak winds of near 140 mph in the Florida Big |Bend just east of the Aucilla River Entrance in Taylor County, late Thursday evening September 26, |2024. Helene's main impact to southeast Georgia and northeast Florida was wind damage as it |tracked quickly north-northeast. The very powerful hurricane and the forward motion produced a |wide swath of wind damage ac…
Flash Flood · Nov 7, 2024. Tropical moisture on the east side of Hurricane Rafael combined with an inverted trough combined to produce localized heavy rainfall across inland areas under onshore, easterly flow. This influx of moisture combined with instability produced thunderstorms and showers will heavy rainfall rates. A flood watch was in effect.
Tropical Storm · Aug 4, 2024. Hurricane Debby made landfall as a Category 1 storm along the FL Big Bend coast during the early morning of August 5, 2024. Prior to landfall, outer convective bands produced tornadoes across portions of northeast Florida on August 4th. Widespread flooding moved inland with Debby across the Suwannee River Valley and inland Southeast Georgia where flash flooding and moderate to major river flooding occurred.
Tropical Storm · Aug 30, 2023. Hurricane Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning August 30th around 745 AM EDT along the|Florida Big Bend near Keaton Beach as a category 3, with the inner core moving NE across the|Suwannee River Valley. The inner wind core of Idalia gradually weakened through the morning while,|heavily impacting Suwannee and Hamilton counties in NE Florida and Echols county SE Georgia as the|circulation tracked NE. Widespread tr…
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 Ware 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.