Macon County, Georgia

What hazards hit Macon County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 100 since 1965. 40% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1965 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 Macon County had?

NOAA records 13 tornadoes in Macon County from 1953 to 2026, the strongest rated EF3, with 1 death and 15 injuries recorded in the county. 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 12 tornadoes whose track touched Macon County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 13: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 3 people, 1 of them in Macon County.

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 Macon County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 12, 2026 tornado (2 injuries).

The tornado first touched down west of Bryant Hill Road and moved through a large pecan orchard snapping and uprooting numerous trees. The tornado moved across Bryant Hill Road and very rapidly reached max intensity as it approached Sleepy Hollow Road. JGX radar data also confirms the presence of very strong velocities in the area near Sleepy Hollow Road as well. The tornado struck a mobile home community on the west side of Sleepy Hollow Road destroying 4 mobile homes, overturning a home and damaging several others. One of the residents of a home was thrown approximately 40 feet from one of the destroyed homes. In another home, there were 2 injuries as a result of the home being flipped over and destroyed. The overturned mobile home remained intact, however the anchors which were concreted into the ground were pulled out of the ground and hanging from the frame. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1328578)

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

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

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 Macon 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).

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

What time of year?

40% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1965 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 Macon County

FEMA's register lists 15 declarations that include Macon County: 8 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (6) and severe 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 Macon County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 9 flood or flash flood records for Macon County from 1998 to 2020, on 7 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Macon County ranks 2590th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $38,000 on 5 claims filed in Macon County; the most in one year was 1 in 1996. 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 Macon County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Macon County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $5.9 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 Macon County

1. Houston County 556
2. Sumter County 388
3. Dooly County 266
4. Crawford County 265
5. Taylor County 256
6. Peach County 256
7. Macon County 231
8. Schley County 158

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 Macon CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Macon County's FEMA declarations (CSV)15 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis