Disaster Data / States / Georgia / Ben Hill County

County

Ben Hill County, Georgia

Ben Hill County recorded 12 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 6 major disasters, 6 emergencies, and 0 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is hurricane.

Highlighted: Ben Hill County, GA

Totals: FY2000–FY2025 · Page last rebuilt Sep 12, 2026 · the current in-progress fiscal year is not included in totals

12
Declarations since FY2000
6
Major disasters (DR)
6
Emergencies (EM)
0
Fire management (FM)
Sep 2024
Most recent
$3.7M
Federal PA obligated (top: utilities)

The federal disaster record for Ben Hill County runs between 2004 and 2024, covering 12 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Hurricane Helene in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often hurricane, biological, and tropical storm. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $3.7 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for utilities.

Risk and vulnerability context

Historical declarations show what has happened here. These national datasets add context about underlying natural-hazard risk and community vulnerability.

County FIPS 13017
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
92.7
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 92.7% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status89.2
Household characteristics73.8
Racial and ethnic minority status83.7
Housing type and transportation95.3

Higher percentiles indicate greater relative social vulnerability within the CDC SVI framework. CDC SVI documentation

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
25.4
overall risk score
Very Low
Expected annual loss$5.2MVery Low
NRI social vulnerability92.6Very High
Community resilience12.2Very Low

The NRI combines expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience to describe relative natural-hazard risk. FEMA NRI documentation

About these measures: CDC Social Vulnerability Index and FEMA National Risk Index Social Vulnerability are separate measures built with different methods. They are shown side by side for context and should not be interpreted as equivalent scores.

Federal Public Assistance by category

Federal share obligated to this jurisdiction under FEMA Public Assistance since 2000, grouped by damage category. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar and reflect obligations, which may change as projects close out.

CategoryProjectsFederal share obligated
Utilities(F)5$1,567,039
Debris removal(A)12$947,783
Emergency protective measures(B)14$518,406
Roads and bridges(C)31$502,351
Management costs(Z)10$128,088
Buildings and equipment(E)9$25,488
Parks and recreation(G)2$8,617
All categories83$3,697,772

Recovery funding, how fast it came

For each disaster, the wait from the declaration to the first federal obligation (amber), then the federal share obligating after that (teal), on a shared 7-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 125 days. An obligation is the federal share committed to the recipient state, not funds disbursed to the locality, which comes later and is not shown.

Hurricane Helene 2024$2.2M
117 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$112K
844 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Michael 2018$419K
134 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Irma 2017$312K
168 days to first federal obligation
Severe Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds 2009$586K
49 days to first federal obligation
Tropical Storm Frances 2004$50K
47 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 yr6 yr7 yr

Assistance to households (Individual Assistance)

FEMA Individual Assistance to households in this jurisdiction, combined across the Housing Assistance owner and renter programs. Valid registrations are households that applied within a designated Individual Assistance area; approved counts and dollars are the households FEMA found eligible under the Individuals and Households Program. Figures are self-reported and drawn from NEMIS through OpenFEMA, not audited, and Individual Assistance exists only for disasters where it was designated, so many jurisdictions show none.

3,344
valid registrations
1,175
households approved
$2,849,898
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$885,027
Rental assistance$123,678
Other needs$1,838,089

Hazard mitigation, what has been funded here

Federal Hazard Mitigation Assistance obligated to this jurisdiction to reduce future disaster losses, across the FEMA mitigation programs. This is the record of past mitigation investment a local hazard mitigation plan documents. Figures are federal share obligated, reported through OpenFEMA and not audited, and are separate from the Public Assistance funding above.

$129,834
federal mitigation share
6
funded projects
1
property mitigated
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation(LPDM)1$70,600
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)5$59,234

Most common hazards

Previous occurrences, for your mitigation plan

Every local hazard mitigation plan must document previous occurrences of each hazard. Here is that record for Ben Hill County, sourced to OpenFEMA and refreshed weekly. Copy it straight into your plan.

HazardDateFEMA declarationType
HurricaneSep 30, 2024DR-4830-GADR
Tropical StormSep 26, 2024EM-3616-GAEM
Tropical StormAug 5, 2024EM-3607-GAEM
BiologicalMar 29, 2020DR-4501-GADR
BiologicalMar 13, 2020EM-3464-GAEM
HurricaneOct 14, 2018DR-4400-GADR
HurricaneOct 10, 2018EM-3406-GAEM
HurricaneSep 15, 2017DR-4338-GADR
HurricaneSep 8, 2017EM-3387-GAEM
Severe StormApr 23, 2009DR-1833-GADR
HurricaneSep 5, 2005EM-3218-GAEM
HurricaneSep 24, 2004DR-1560-GADR

Every declaration on record

DR = Major disaster (Stafford Act) · EM = Emergency declaration · FM = Fire management assistance

Showing 12 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Sep 30, 2024DR-4830-GADRHurricaneHurricane Helene
Sep 26, 2024EM-3616-GAEMTropical StormHurricane Helene
Aug 5, 2024EM-3607-GAEMTropical StormHurricane Debby
Mar 29, 2020DR-4501-GADRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3464-GAEMBiologicalCovid-19
Oct 14, 2018DR-4400-GADRHurricaneHurricane Michael
Oct 10, 2018EM-3406-GAEMHurricaneHurricane Michael
Sep 15, 2017DR-4338-GADRHurricaneHurricane Irma
Sep 8, 2017EM-3387-GAEMHurricaneHurricane Irma
Apr 23, 2009DR-1833-GADRSevere StormSevere Storms, Flooding, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds
Sep 5, 2005EM-3218-GAEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
Sep 24, 2004DR-1560-GADRHurricaneTropical Storm Frances
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How these numbers are built

Drawn from FEMA's OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, rebuilt each week. A declaration is counted here once for each designated area it names, so a single disaster covering many localities is counted in each one. For that reason these jurisdiction counts do not sum to Georgia's statewide total. This page counts declarations that named this jurisdiction as a designated area. Totals cover complete fiscal years (Oct 1 to Sep 30); the in-progress year may appear in the most-recent list but is not counted in the totals. Uses OpenFEMA data but is not endorsed by or affiliated with FEMA.

Cite this profile

Choose a citation style, then copy the formatted citation. This profile is derived from FEMA OpenFEMA data and is updated as the underlying Disaster Data build is refreshed.

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