Wheeler County, Georgia

What hazards hit Wheeler County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 67 since 1976. 43% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1976 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 Wheeler County had?

NOAA records 8 tornadoes in Wheeler County from 1975 to 2024, the strongest rated EF1, with 2 deaths and 1 injury 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 9 tornadoes whose track touched Wheeler County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 8: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 2 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 Wheeler County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the September 26, 2024 tornado (2 deaths).

A brief tornado occurred in rural Wheeler County ahead of Hurricane Helene during the evening hours of September 26th. The tornado touched down and crossed Hwy 19 near the intersections of Ponderosa Road and Adams Cemetery Road. A few small trees were snapped, but the main damage was to a mobile home/trailer that was completely destroyed with debris thrown across Hwy 19 into a field about 75 yards away. The mobile home/trailer was not fastened down and there are no pictures of what it looked like before it was hit.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1217288)

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 Wheeler 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?

43% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1976 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 Wheeler County

FEMA's register lists 18 declarations that include Wheeler County: 9 major disasters, 9 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (7) and tropical storm (2).

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 Wheeler County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 7 flood or flash flood records for Wheeler County from 1997 to 2017, on 7 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Wheeler County ranks 2358th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $82,000 on 10 claims filed in Wheeler County; the most in one year was 4 in 1998. 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 Wheeler County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Wheeler County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $2.2 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 Wheeler County

1. Laurens County 560
2. Dodge County 376
3. Telfair County 246
4. Jeff Davis County 209
5. Montgomery County 187
6. Treutlen County 178
7. Wheeler County 177

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