Chatham County, Georgia: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Chatham County, Georgia has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 97.4 out of 100, higher than about 97% of US counties, with hurricanes, coastal flooding and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $277 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 17 federal disaster declarations that included Chatham County since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4830-GA (Hurricane Helene, declared 30 September 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 31 tornadoes touching Chatham County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 293,520 Buildings worth $63 billion Area 636 sq mi Risk rank in Georgia 1 of 159 FIPS 13051
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Very High | 99.4 | $189 million | about once every 2.9 years | 120 |
| Coastal flooding | Very High | 96.0 | $13 million | about 3.7 a year | — |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 95.4 | $2.0 million | about 65 a year | 407,829 strikes |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 95.3 | $6.4 million | about 9.5 a year | 128 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | 94.4 | $12 million | about once every 408 years | — |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | 92.4 | $2.0 million | about once every 478 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 90.8 | $42 million | about 1.3 a year | 36 |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 89.6 | $891,361 | about once every 2.1 years | 27 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 80.5 | $1.3 million | about 1.1 a year | 36 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 79.7 | $3.6 million | about once every 1.7 years | 9.3 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 77.4 | $3.4 million | about once every 5.3 years | 17 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 69.1 | $532,445 | about 1.7 a year | 74 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 67.9 | $119,935 | about once every 1.6 years | 9.3 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 37.8 | $54,056 | about 18 a year | 651 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 18.8 | $102 | about once every 15 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 17
Most common: Hurricane 9, Tropical Storm 3, Severe Storm 2, Snowstorm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Drought, Freezing |
| 1990s | 4 | Severe Storm ×2, Hurricane, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 2010s | 6 | Hurricane ×6 |
| 2020s | 4 | Tropical Storm ×3, Hurricane |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Chatham County
- Hurricane Helene (2024, EM-3616-GA): 159 Georgia counties designated.
- Hurricane Irma (2017, DR-4338-GA): 159 Georgia counties designated.
- Hurricane Irma (2017, EM-3387-GA): 159 Georgia counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Helene (2024), Tropical Storm Debby (2024), Hurricane Debby (2024), Hurricane Dorian (2019), Hurricane Michael (2018), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Matthew (2016), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Floyd (1999).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Georgia also had 6 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 31
| Tornadoes touching the county | 31 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×5 |
| Peak month | May (9) |
| Deadliest | 9 Apr 1979, F1, 10.7 mi path, 0 killed, 10 injured |
| Longest path | 9 Apr 1979, F1, 10.7 mi path, 0 killed, 10 injured |
| Most recent | 4 May 2019, EF1, 2.2 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 27 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 9 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Chatham County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatham County (this page) | — | Relatively High | 97.4 | Hurricane |
| Bryan County | 29 km | Relatively Low | 66.6 | Hurricane |
| Liberty County | 40 km | Relatively Moderate | 83.0 | Hurricane |
| Effingham County | 44 km | Relatively Low | 59.1 | Hurricane |
| Jasper County, SC | 49 km | Relatively Low | 78.6 | Hurricane |
| Beaufort County, SC | 56 km | Relatively High | 97.1 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Georgia, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Moderate 42.0 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 93.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.05 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $277 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Chatham County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Georgia · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Coastal flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Hurricanes and storms now
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Georgia
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Chatham County
What natural disasters is Chatham County, Georgia most at risk from?
Chatham County, Georgia has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 97.4 out of 100, higher than about 97% of US counties, with hurricanes, coastal flooding and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $277 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Chatham County had?
OpenFEMA lists 17 federal disaster declarations that included Chatham County since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4830-GA (Hurricane Helene, declared 30 September 2024). Another 6 Georgia declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Chatham County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 31 tornadoes touching Chatham County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 9 Apr 1979, F1, 10.7 mi path, 0 killed, 10 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.