Chatham County, Georgia

What hazards hit Chatham County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 617 since 1960. 48% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in June and July. The rank column places the county among Georgia's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Chatham County had?

NOAA records 32 tornadoes in Chatham County from 1955 to 2019, the strongest rated EF2, with 0 deaths and 27 injuries recorded in the county. That is 11th of 159 Georgia counties and 151st of 3,080 U.S. counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 32 tornadoes whose track touched Chatham County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 32, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Georgia.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Chatham County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 18, 2026 thunderstorm wind ($1,250 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Chatham County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Rip currents and high surf in the 2010s: 29 records against 9 in the decade before, 29 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Chatham County days with a record above.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

48% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1960 fell in June and July. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Chatham County

FEMA's register lists 19 declarations that include Chatham County: 8 major disasters, 11 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (9) and tropical storm (3).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Chatham County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 143 flood or flash flood records for Chatham County from 1996 to 2026, on 70 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Chatham County ranks 89th of 2,942 U.S. counties. The 100 counties with the most claims

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $82.5 million on 5,467 claims filed in Chatham County; the most in one year was 1,163 in 1999. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Chatham County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Chatham County Relatively High overall, with an expected annual loss of $277 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Chatham County

1. Chatham County 1,332
2. Jasper County, SC 647
3. Effingham County 588
4. Liberty County 517
5. Bryan County 319

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in GeorgiaEvery Georgia tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in GeorgiaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Georgia recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Chatham CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Chatham County's FEMA declarations (CSV)19 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis