Rabun County, Georgia: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Rabun County, Georgia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 45.3 out of 100, higher than about 45% of US counties, with landslides, lightning and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $10 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 19 federal disaster declarations that included Rabun County since 1974, 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 6 tornadoes touching Rabun County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Georgia All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 16,845 Buildings worth $4.6 billion Area 381 sq mi Risk rank in Georgia 64 of 159 FIPS 13241
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Relatively Moderate | 92.8 | $58,086 | about 1.3 a year | — |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 80.6 | $516,141 | about 61 a year | 62,240 strikes |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 75.7 | $1.9 million | about 1.2 a year | 22 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 64.1 | $79,081 | about once every 498 years | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 61.6 | $170,406 | about once every 24 years | 9 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 61.5 | $101,058 | about 1.2 a year | 80 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 58.1 | $5.9 million | about once a year | 27 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 50.3 | $195,553 | about once every 481 years | — |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 45.2 | $741,385 | about once every 5.7 years | 4 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 35.5 | $103,643 | about 4.1 a year | 157 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 33.6 | $25,325 | about 36 a year | 1,099 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 24.1 | $157,215 | about 2.2 a year | 86 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 10.7 | $5,815 | about 7.4 a year | 141 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 2.3 | $2 | about once every 885 years | 0 |
| 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 19
Most common: Hurricane 8, Severe Storm 4, Tornado 2, Winter Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Flood, Tornado |
| 1990s | 4 | Severe Storm, Hurricane, Tornado, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 4 | Hurricane ×3, Severe Storm |
| 2010s | 4 | Hurricane ×2, Severe Ice Storm, Severe Storm |
| 2020s | 5 | Hurricane ×2, Winter Storm, Tropical Storm, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Rabun 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 Zeta (2021), Hurricane Irma (2017), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Tropical Storm Frances (2004), Hurricane Ivan (2004), 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 6
| Tornadoes touching the county | 6 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | April (2) |
| Deadliest | 27 Apr 2011, EF3, 37 mi path, 1 killed, 1 injured |
| Longest path | 27 Apr 2011, EF3, 37 mi path, 1 killed, 1 injured |
| Most recent | 17 Aug 2021, EF0 |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 1 / 7 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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 Rabun County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rabun County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 45.3 | Landslide |
| Macon County, NC | 30 km | Relatively Low | 73.8 | Landslide |
| Habersham County | 30 km | Very Low | 38.9 | Lightning |
| Towns County | 31 km | Very Low | 39.6 | Landslide |
| Oconee County, SC | 34 km | Relatively Moderate | 85.6 | Cold wave |
| Clay County, NC | 37 km | Very Low | 26.9 | Landslide |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Georgia, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 82.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 23.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.49 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $10 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 Rabun County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Georgia · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Georgia
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · 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 Rabun County
What natural disasters is Rabun County, Georgia most at risk from?
Rabun County, Georgia has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 45.3 out of 100, higher than about 45% of US counties, with landslides, lightning and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $10 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Rabun County had?
OpenFEMA lists 19 federal disaster declarations that included Rabun County since 1974, 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 Rabun County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 6 tornadoes touching Rabun County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 27 Apr 2011, EF3, 37 mi path, 1 killed, 1 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.