FEMA Records
15
Below median
Georgia · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Macon County, GA
15 FEMA disaster declarations (1977-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Very Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 15
- FEMA declarations
- 8
- Major disasters
- 32
- NRI risk · Very Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Macon County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 15 declarations, more than 23% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 14% below the Georgia county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county safer than 32%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Safer than 32%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Very Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 15
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 5
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 13193 · Macon County 15 declarations · rank 2438/3,266
DECL-MID · MAJOR-MID · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-BELOW
- DECL-MID 15
- MAJOR-MID 53%
- RANK-LOWER #2,438
- PHOTO-FINISH Polk
- NRI-LOW Very Low
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-BELOW -14%
Nearest declaration peer: Polk, OR (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Georgia state profile
Macon County among counties with fewer federal records
FEMA declaration records among Macon County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Flathead · near 15
Flathead · near
15 declarations
- Macon · this county 15
Macon · this county
15 declarations
- Murray · near 15
Murray · near
15 declarations
- Polk · near 15
Polk · near
15 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Macon County carries 15 FEMA declaration records, ranked 2438 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Macon County versus quieter counties in this dataset
Macon County among lower-declaration counties nationally
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Macon County
15 23rd percentile higher than 23% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Macon County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Macon County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $2.2M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Drought carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Macon County's hazard record show?
FEMA National Risk Index
FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 32.1/100 for this county (Very Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $5.9M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Very High) and community resilience (Very Low) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Drought stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 47 modeled event-days per year here, based on 1,337 historical events on record.
Reading the federal records together
This county has a small entry in FEMA's NFIP paid-claims table: 5 claims and $37.7K paid in total. PlainHazard calls 1-49 claims a light registry record, a label for this dataset rather than a finding that flood exposure is low. A short claims history can also reflect insurance take-up, the period covered, or losses that were never insured.
Start with the state benchmark: a Georgia county averages 17.4 federal declaration records, while Macon County has 15. The gap is 14% below that mean. Fewer entries indicate a quieter history of recorded federal actions, not immunity from a hazard and not a prediction about what happens next.
53 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Macon County, GA · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) Moderate
11/30
15 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (0.7x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
11/25
15 declarations (0.9x state county average of 17)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
8 of 15 declarations are major disasters (53%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Macon County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Macon County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
53%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
32
Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Macon County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Drought | Relatively High | 47 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 10 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 2.5 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 7.3 modeled event-days per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 619 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,825 years |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 66 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.6 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 9 years |
| Cold Wave | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Ice Storm | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 6
Severe Storm 3
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Tropical Storm 1
Tornado 1
Drought 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Macon County's federal record, 40% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 8 53.3%
of all 15 declarations
Emergency - 7 46.7%
of all 15 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1994 | 1 | |
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 15 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 15 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3642 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 3616 | HURRICANE HELENE | EM | Tropical Storm | 2024-09-26 |
| 4501 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-29 |
| 3464 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4400 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | DR | Hurricane | 2018-10-14 |
| 3406 | HURRICANE MICHAEL | EM | Hurricane | 2018-10-10 |
| 4338 | HURRICANE IRMA | DR | Hurricane | 2017-09-15 |
| 3387 | HURRICANE IRMA | EM | Hurricane | 2017-09-08 |
| 4259 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2016-02-26 |
| 3218 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1560 | TROPICAL STORM FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-24 |
| 1209 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1998-03-11 |
| 1033 | TORNADOES, FLOODING TORRENTIAL RAIN(TROP STORM ALBERTO) | DR | Tornado | 1994-07-07 |
| 857 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNAODES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-02-23 |
| 3044 | DROUGHT | EM | Drought | 1977-07-20 |
Storm Events in Georgia
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Macon County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 9,617 | 15 | 75 | $65.4M |
| Drought | 1,363 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Hail | 1,257 | 0 | 0 | $61.8M |
| Flash Flood | 1,154 | 0 | 3 | $29.3M |
| Tropical Storm | 655 | 28 | 19 | $855.3M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
5
Total Paid
$37.7K
Avg Per Claim
$7.5K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Very Low
Score: 32.1/100
Expected Annual Loss
Very Low
$5.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Very Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively Low
Hail Relatively Low
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Wildfire Very Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Cold Wave Very Low
Ice Storm Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Drought
Drought is the slowest of the modeled hazards and the least visible: it does its damage to agriculture, water supply and soil over seasons rather than hours, so it rarely produces the kind of single-day damage that drives a disaster declaration. FEMA scores it in event-days per year rather than discrete events for exactly that reason.
Worth noting for Macon County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Macon County's closest FEMA peer: Cass County, IN
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Macon County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Macon County shows 15 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Macon County: 8 of 15 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Macon County: NRI composite 32.1 (Very Low).
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Macon County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Macon County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 32.1 (Very Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 15. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Most disaster-prone counties
With 15 FEMA declarations, Macon County sits in the high-volume declaration band - see how that count ranks against other U.S. counties.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Macon County?
The most common disaster type in Macon County is Hurricane, with 6 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (3), Biological (2), Winter Storm (1).
How does Macon County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Georgia average?
The typical Georgia county has 17.4 FEMA declaration records; Macon County has 15, or 14% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 28% lower. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Macon County received?
Macon County has received 8 major disaster declarations, representing 53% of all 15 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Macon County filed?
Macon County has 5 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $37.7K in payments, with an average of $7.5K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Macon County?
No. In Macon County, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $2.2M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Macon County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Macon County was 2017, with 2 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1977 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Macon County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Macon County, Georgia has an overall risk score of 32.1 out of 100 (Very Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Very Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $5.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Macon County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Macon County as of the latest release is Drought (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively Low) and Hail (Relatively Low). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 47 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 1,337 historical events on record. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against exposed assets and community vulnerability.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Macon County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Georgia profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events