Chatham County, Georgia: hazard history
What federal records show has already happened here: disaster declarations, storms, and flood insurance claims. This is a record of the past. It is not a forecast and not a hazard score.
At a glance
What this means
- The event NOAA recorded most often here is Thunderstorm Wind, with 510 records.
- The costliest single record is Flash Flood in 1999: $7.0M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Rip Current in 2015, with 3 deaths.
- FEMA has declared 19 disasters that named this county, most often for hurricane.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 1999, with 1,167 claims.
What this can't tell you
- What happens next. Past events do not set the odds of the next one.
- Anything before 1996 from NOAA. That is when NOAA began recording every event type; earlier files hold only tornado, hail and wind, so they are left out on purpose.
- Today's cost. Damage and payments are in the dollars of the year they happened.
- A flood rate. NFIP counts claims but not how many homes were insured, and many flooded homes carry no flood insurance.
- Earthquakes, wildfire perimeters or radar-detected hail. Those records are not tied to counties.
Federal disaster declarations (FEMA)
FEMA declared 19 disasters that named Chatham County between 1977 and 2024.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | 9 | 2024 |
| Tropical Storm | 3 | 2024 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Severe Storm | 2 | 1998 |
| Drought | 1 | 1977 |
| Freezing | 1 | 1977 |
| Snowstorm | 1 | 1993 |
Most recent declarations
- EM-3616 2024 · Tropical Storm · Hurricane Helene
- DR-4830 2024 · Hurricane · Hurricane Helene
- EM-3607 2024 · Tropical Storm · Hurricane Debby
- DR-4821 2024 · Tropical Storm · Tropical Storm Debby
- DR-4501 2020 · Biological · Covid-19 Pandemic
- EM-3464 2020 · Biological · Covid-19
- EM-3422 2019 · Hurricane · Hurricane Dorian
- EM-3406 2018 · Hurricane · Hurricane Michael
- DR-4338 2017 · Hurricane · Hurricane Irma
- EM-3387 2017 · Hurricane · Hurricane Irma
Not counted above: 6 statewide declarations, which covered every county in Georgia. A declaration is a decision to send federal help, not a measure of how bad an event was. Records run from 1953. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
Storms recorded by NOAA, by type
| Event type | Records | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 510 | 2 | 5 | $2.0M |
| Hail | 148 | 0 | 0 | $11K |
| Flash Flood | 95 | 0 | 2 | $8.5M |
| Rip Current | 60 | 7 | 14 | $1K |
| Tropical Storm | 57 | 3 | 1 | $10.0M |
| Lightning | 48 | 2 | 15 | $4.8M |
| Coastal Flood | 46 | 0 | 0 | $40K |
| Drought | 46 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Strong Wind | 43 | 0 | 1 | $105K |
| High Wind | 19 | 0 | 0 | $31K |
| Heat | 14 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tornado | 14 | 0 | 6 | $3.6M |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | 12 | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 11 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Funnel Cloud | 8 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Surf | 6 | 0 | 0 | $18K |
| Storm Surge/Tide | 5 | 0 | 0 | $10.0M |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Frost/Freeze | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heavy Rain | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heavy Snow | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Waterspout | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flood | 2 | 0 | 0 | $2K |
| Ice Storm | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tropical Depression | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Weather | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
Records start in 1996. Damage is NOAA's estimate at the time, in nominal dollars, and is often rounded; it is not insurance claims data. A storm that crossed two NOAA zones in this county is recorded, and counted, once per zone.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in Chatham County each year. The busiest year was 2011, with 100 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 19 | 0 | $1.1M |
| 1997 | 9 | 0 | $0 |
| 1998 | 18 | 0 | $1.3M |
| 1999 | 17 | 0 | $7.0M |
| 2000 | 14 | 0 | $0 |
| 2001 | 19 | 1 | $100K |
| 2002 | 27 | 0 | $0 |
| 2003 | 12 | 0 | $0 |
| 2004 | 17 | 0 | $2.0M |
| 2005 | 21 | 2 | $0 |
| 2006 | 35 | 0 | $664K |
| 2007 | 40 | 0 | $81K |
| 2008 | 60 | 0 | $3.2M |
| 2009 | 64 | 0 | $264K |
| 2010 | 46 | 0 | $67K |
| 2011 | 100 | 0 | $138K |
| 2012 | 63 | 0 | $141K |
| 2013 | 44 | 0 | $171K |
| 2014 | 36 | 0 | $19K |
| 2015 | 83 | 3 | $60K |
| 2016 | 57 | 2 | $26K |
| 2017 | 34 | 0 | $20.2M |
| 2018 | 26 | 0 | $16K |
| 2019 | 56 | 0 | $2.1M |
| 2020 | 33 | 2 | $62K |
| 2021 | 19 | 1 | $43K |
| 2022 | 29 | 0 | $41K |
| 2023 | 37 | 1 | $107K |
| 2024 | 51 | 3 | $61K |
| 2025 | 62 | 0 | $59K |
| 2026 | 22 | 0 | $23K |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Flash Flood · Jun 29, 1999$7.0MNOAA name: CHATHAM · NOAA record 5704893
- Tropical Storm · Sep 11, 2017$5.0MNOAA name: COASTAL CHATHAM · NOAA record 722542
- Tropical Storm · Sep 11, 2017$5.0MNOAA name: INLAND CHATHAM · NOAA record 722543
- Storm Surge/Tide · Sep 11, 2017$5.0MNOAA name: COASTAL CHATHAM · NOAA record 722665
- Storm Surge/Tide · Sep 11, 2017$5.0MNOAA name: INLAND CHATHAM · NOAA record 722666
Deadliest records
- Rip Current · Sep 27, 20153 deathsNOAA name: Coastal Chatham · 2 injuries · NOAA record 602563
- Tropical Storm · Sep 26, 20243 deathsNOAA name: INLAND CHATHAM · 1 injury · NOAA record 1217271
- Lightning · Jun 25, 20011 deathNOAA name: CHATHAM · 1 injury · NOAA record 5253656
- Thunderstorm Wind · May 17, 20051 deathNOAA name: CHATHAM · 1 injury · NOAA record 5449151
- Rip Current · Jun 26, 20051 deathNOAA name: CHATHAM · NOAA record 5459274
Each line is one NOAA record, linked to its page at NOAA. One large storm can appear more than once if NOAA recorded it in several zones of this county. Dollars are nominal.
Flood insurance claims (NFIP)
The National Flood Insurance Program paid $81.2M on 5,453 claims in Chatham County from 1978 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,167 | $16.4M |
| 2017 | 984 | $28.4M |
| 1994 | 857 | $8.8M |
| 2016 | 794 | $13.7M |
| 1996 | 420 | $5.8M |
A count of claims, not a rate: NFIP publishes no count of insured homes beside it, and most flood damage is uninsured. Nominal dollars. Records run from 1978 to 2024; claims filed without a county code are not on any county page. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims.
Hazard vulnerability analysis: the probability column for a facility in Chatham County
A hazard vulnerability analysis rates each hazard for probability, impact, preparedness and response. Probability is the one column the county’s federal record can fill — NCEI storm events from 1996 to 2026 and FEMA declarations naming the county — and this is what it says for a facility here, on the 0–3 scale of the all-hazards structure surveyors expect. The other six columns are the facility’s own judgment about its building, and Calchis leaves them blank.
| Hazard | Prob. | Basis, from the county record |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane / Tropical Storm | 3 | 76 NCEI events over 31 years (2.45/yr). 12 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 706 NCEI events over 31 years (22.77/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 146 NCEI events over 31 years (4.71/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 3 | 34 NCEI events over 31 years (1.10/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Drought | 3 | 46 NCEI events over 31 years (1.48/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 3 | 62 NCEI events over 31 years (2.00/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tornado | 2 | 14 NCEI events over 31 years (0.45/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 2 | 9 NCEI events over 31 years (0.29/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Wild Fire | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Earthquake | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Landslide | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tidal Wave / Tsunami | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Volcano | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Dam Inundation | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
A dash means the record does not speak to that hazard; it is not a zero. Whether a finished document satisfies the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule is the facility’s finding and its surveyor’s. Complete the HVA for a facility in Chatham County — the technological, human and hazardous-materials rows, the six facility columns, the approval and the printed document — or read the sample analysis on that page first.
How this page was made
- Every figure is counted from public federal records held by Calchis: NOAA NCEI Storm Events, FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, and FEMA NFIP claims. Nothing is modeled or estimated.
- NOAA files some events by county and others by forecast zone, and names both. Records are counted as Chatham County when their NOAA name is this county's name, alone or with a word like “Coastal” or “Inland” in front. The county codes NOAA also publishes have not been loaded for Georgia yet; when they are, this page will count by code instead, and some counties' records will grow. NOAA names counted here: CHATHAM, COASTAL CHATHAM, Coastal Chatham, INLAND CHATHAM. Zones named for something else, such as a mountain range or two counties at once, are left out: 0% of Georgia's NOAA records.
- Counts last rebuilt from the source records on Sep 15, 2026.
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Recorded history from federal public records. Not a hazard score, a risk score, or a forecast, and not a substitute for professional actuarial or emergency-management assessment. Decision-support intelligence — not a primary alerting or dispatch system. Verify against official sources.