7 flood insurance claims·$56,188 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 Wayne 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.
Wayne County experiences a flood risk profile dominated by tropical storms and general flooding events, with NOAA records indicating 11 tropical storms, 7 floods, and 4 flash floods over the last 30 years. Recent impacts include Hurricane Debby in August 2024, which brought widespread inland flooding, flash flooding, and moderate to major river flooding to southeast Georgia. Additionally, a strong surface low and persistent onshore flow produced heavy rainfall and strong winds across southeast Georgia in December 2023, while Hurricane Helene brought significant wind damage to the region in September 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed in both moderate-to-low risk and high-risk zones. Properties in Zone X recorded 5 claims with an average payout of $13,361 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in Zone A recorded 2 claims with an average payout of $2,743 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas like Zone A, as well as properties in Zone X that remain vulnerable to heavy rainfall and tropical storm impacts.
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 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 2013, with 3 claims and $50,535 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.
12 NOAA storm reports from Wayne County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Georgia flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 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 Dorian | Aug 29, 2019 |
| 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.
22 since 1996: 4 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 27, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Jul 8, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 4, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Dec 17, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Mar 5, 2020 | — |
| Flood | Jun 11, 2019 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 4, 2019 | — |
— = 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…
Flood · Jul 8, 2024. A front north of the region and high pressure across south FL brought prevailing SW flow over the area. Very high atmospheric moisture was in place with PWAT 2.2 to 2.4 inches. Isolated strong to pulse severe storms developed where boundaries merged in the late afternoon and evening, as well as localized heavy rainfall.
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 Wayne 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.