Elbert County, Georgia: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Elbert County, Georgia has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 30.8 out of 100, higher than about 30% of US counties, with ice storms, heat waves and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $6.9 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 14 federal disaster declarations that included Elbert County since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3642-GA (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 14 tornadoes touching Elbert County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 19,609 Buildings worth $5.0 billion Area 378 sq mi Risk rank in Georgia 88 of 159 FIPS 13105
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 77.9 | $238,394 | about 1.4 a year | 91 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 74.1 | $762,680 | about 3.2 a year | 52 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 72.2 | $496,839 | about once every 19 years | 15 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 71.6 | $605,665 | about once every 368 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 54.8 | $140,717 | about 56 a year | 1,778 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 54.7 | $219,713 | about 4.1 a year | 155 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 45.9 | $557,121 | about once every 4.7 years | 4 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 41.1 | $19,508 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 40.9 | $617,659 | about once every 4.4 years | 11 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 35.8 | $2.9 million | about once every 1.3 years | 22 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 35.5 | $244,275 | about 2.7 a year | 104 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 32.6 | $82,717 | about 55 a year | 59,555 strikes |
| Landslide | Very Low | 31.8 | $246 | about once every 2.9 years | — |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 9.7 | $5,049 | about 2.7 a year | 52 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| 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 14
Most common: Hurricane 7, Severe Ice Storm 2, Winter Storm 1, Tropical Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Drought |
| 1990s | 1 | Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 4 | Hurricane ×3, Severe Storm |
| 2010s | 5 | Hurricane ×3, Severe Ice Storm ×2 |
| 2020s | 3 | Winter Storm, Hurricane, Tropical Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Elbert 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), Hurricane Michael (2018), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Tropical Storm Frances (2004), Hurricane Ivan (2004).
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 14
| Tornadoes touching the county | 14 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×3 |
| Peak month | May (4) |
| Deadliest | 31 Mar 1954, F2, 17.5 mi path, 0 killed, 25 injured |
| Longest path | 13 Apr 1980, F1, 26.9 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Most recent | 3 Aug 2023, EF0, 10.4 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 39 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
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 Elbert County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elbert County (this page) | — | Very Low | 30.8 | Ice storm |
| Hart County | 28 km | Very Low | 35.4 | Ice storm |
| Madison County | 34 km | Very Low | 28.9 | Ice storm |
| Oglethorpe County | 34 km | Very Low | 8.1 | Hurricane |
| Abbeville County, SC | 37 km | Relatively Low | 45.4 | Ice storm |
| Wilkes County | 38 km | Very Low | 12.9 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Georgia, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 83.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 20.8 |
| Community risk factor | 1.52 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $6.9 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 Elbert County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Georgia · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Heat wave: Heatstroke warning signs
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- 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 Elbert County
What natural disasters is Elbert County, Georgia most at risk from?
Elbert County, Georgia has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 30.8 out of 100, higher than about 30% of US counties, with ice storms, heat waves and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $6.9 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Elbert County had?
OpenFEMA lists 14 federal disaster declarations that included Elbert County since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3642-GA (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). Another 6 Georgia declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Elbert County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 14 tornadoes touching Elbert County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 31 Mar 1954, F2, 17.5 mi path, 0 killed, 25 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.