Polk County, Georgia: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Polk County, Georgia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 64.1 out of 100, higher than about 64% of US counties, with tornadoes, drought and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $15 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 16 federal disaster declarations that included Polk County since 1974, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3657-GA (Hurricane Isaias, declared 9 October 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 11 tornadoes touching Polk County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Georgia All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 42,781 Buildings worth $7.8 billion Area 315 sq mi Risk rank in Georgia 39 of 159 FIPS 13233
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 86.3 | $3.6 million | about once every 4.4 years | 14 |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 81.9 | $665,376 | about 31 a year | 966 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 74.9 | $716,507 | about 3.2 a year | 123 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 74.8 | $734,490 | about once every 377 years | — |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 72.1 | $4,599 | about once every 2.8 years | — |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 71.5 | $125,074 | about once every 355 years | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 69.0 | $1.3 million | about 1.2 a year | 22 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 66.0 | $7.2 million | about once every 1.4 years | 20 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 62.8 | $240,057 | about 63 a year | 97,403 strikes |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 61.7 | $157,294 | about once every 26 years | 8 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 58.8 | $234,338 | about 5.5 a year | 207 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 51.0 | $57,441 | about once every 1.7 years | 39 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 41.5 | $158,577 | about 2.2 a year | 38 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 11.6 | $5,932 | about 3 a year | 57 |
| 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 16
Most common: Hurricane 4, Severe Storm 3, Tropical Storm 2, Tornado 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Flood, Drought, Tornado |
| 1990s | 4 | Hurricane, Snowstorm, Tornado, Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 2 | Severe Storm, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 4 | Hurricane ×2, Severe Ice Storm, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 3 | Tropical Storm ×2, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Polk 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 Isaias (2026), Hurricane Helene (2024), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Opal (1995).
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 11
| Tornadoes touching the county | 11 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×3 |
| Peak month | April (5) |
| Deadliest | 15 Mar 2008, EF3, 16.9 mi path, 2 killed, 2 injured |
| Longest path | 27 Mar 1994, F3, 21 mi path, 0 killed, 30 injured |
| Most recent | 11 Apr 2013, EF0, 0.4 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 3 / 76 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 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 Polk County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polk County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 64.1 | Tornado |
| Haralson County | 23 km | Very Low | 27.6 | Wildfire |
| Floyd County | 29 km | Relatively Moderate | 82.0 | Tornado |
| Paulding County | 31 km | Relatively Low | 70.0 | Tornado |
| Bartow County | 41 km | Relatively Low | 65.3 | Tornado |
| Cherokee County, AL | 43 km | Relatively Low | 63.3 | Drought |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Georgia, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 91.5 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 28.8 |
| Community risk factor | 1.62 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $15 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 Polk County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Georgia · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- Drought: Drought monitor for Georgia
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- 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 Polk County
What natural disasters is Polk County, Georgia most at risk from?
Polk County, Georgia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 64.1 out of 100, higher than about 64% of US counties, with tornadoes, drought and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $15 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Polk County had?
OpenFEMA lists 16 federal disaster declarations that included Polk County since 1974, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3657-GA (Hurricane Isaias, declared 9 October 2026). Another 6 Georgia declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Polk County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 11 tornadoes touching Polk County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 15 Mar 2008, EF3, 16.9 mi path, 2 killed, 2 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.