Disaster Data / States / Georgia / Effingham County

County

Effingham County, Georgia

Effingham County recorded 13 federal disaster and emergency declarations since FY2000 (through FY2025): 5 major disasters, 8 emergencies, and 0 fire-management declarations. Its most common hazard is hurricane.

Highlighted: Effingham County, GA

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

13
Declarations since FY2000
5
Major disasters (DR)
8
Emergencies (EM)
0
Fire management (FM)
Sep 2024
Most recent
$6.1M
Federal PA obligated (top: debris removal)

The federal disaster record for Effingham County runs between 2005 and 2024, covering 13 declarations in all. Its most recent major disaster declaration was Hurricane Helene in 2024. The hazards behind these declarations were most often hurricane, tropical storm, and biological. Since 2000, FEMA has obligated about $6.1 million in Public Assistance funding to the jurisdiction, most of it for debris removal.

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 13103
CDC / ATSDR

Social Vulnerability Index

2022 county-level SVI
28.5
overall percentile nationally

Approximately 28.5% of U.S. counties have an equal or lower overall SVI ranking.

Socioeconomic status36.9
Household characteristics27.3
Racial and ethnic minority status59.9
Housing type and transportation18.7

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

FEMA

National Risk Index

December 2025
59.1
overall risk score
Relatively Low
Expected annual loss$25.1MRelatively Low
NRI social vulnerability17.5Very Low
Community resilience63.2Relatively High

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
Debris removal(A)24$2,951,214
Roads and bridges(C)7$1,732,652
Emergency protective measures(B)26$961,886
Buildings and equipment(E)7$276,463
Parks and recreation(G)4$109,047
Management costs(Z)9$18,461
Utilities(F)2$17,654
All categories79$6,067,377

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 5-year scale. Typical wait to the first obligation here: about 134 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$2.5M
130 days to first federal obligation
Tropical Storm Debby 2024$1.7M
134 days to first federal obligation
Covid-19 Pandemic 2020$77K
774 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Irma 2017$274K
168 days to first federal obligation
Hurricane Matthew 2016$1.5M
87 days to first federal obligation
Declared1 yr2 yr3 yr4 yr5 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.

7,520
valid registrations
1,786
households approved
$3,665,000
total IHP approved
Assistance typeApproved amount
Repair and replacement$1,010,983
Rental assistance$283,909
Other needs$2,368,734

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.

$1,312,466
federal mitigation share
4
funded projects
ProgramProjectsFederal share obligated
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program(HMGP)4$1,312,466

State declarations (governor)

Emergency declarations issued by the governor of this state, which are separate from and usually precede a federal declaration. A declaration is listed here when NOAA Storm Events recorded reports of the matched hazard in this jurisdiction while the order was in effect. That is evidence of local impact during a declared state emergency. It is not a statement that the governor named this jurisdiction in the order, since most state declarations apply statewide and name no localities at all. Hazard categories come from the order text. Damage figures are NOAA storm report estimates for this jurisdiction only, not the cost of the declaration.

3
state declarations with local storm evidence
32
statewide on record

Archive coverage for Georgia: 2011-present structured Governor archives; Georgia Archives pre-2011 holdings require archival backfill

SignedOrderDeclarationHazards reported hereReported damage
Aug 3, 202408.03.24.01Declaring a State of Emergency for Tropical Depression 4Flash Flood$100,000
Apr 6, 202204.06.22.01Declaring a State of Emergency due to tornado and severe storm damageHail, Thunderstorm WindNot reported
Jul 6, 202107.06.21.01Declaring a State of Emergency in preparation for the impact of Tropical Storm ElsaTornadoNot reported

Source: state executive order archives collected by DisasterData Plus, joined to NOAA Storm Events. See the Plus overview for per-state coverage and method.

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 Effingham 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 StormSep 24, 2024DR-4821-GADR
Tropical StormAug 5, 2024EM-3607-GAEM
BiologicalMar 29, 2020DR-4501-GADR
BiologicalMar 13, 2020EM-3464-GAEM
HurricaneSep 1, 2019EM-3422-GAEM
HurricaneOct 10, 2018EM-3406-GAEM
HurricaneSep 15, 2017DR-4338-GADR
HurricaneSep 8, 2017EM-3387-GAEM
HurricaneOct 8, 2016DR-4284-GADR
HurricaneOct 6, 2016EM-3379-GAEM
HurricaneSep 5, 2005EM-3218-GAEM

Every declaration on record

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

Showing 13 declarations

DateNumberTypeHazardTitle
Sep 30, 2024DR-4830-GADRHurricaneHurricane Helene
Sep 26, 2024EM-3616-GAEMTropical StormHurricane Helene
Sep 24, 2024DR-4821-GADRTropical StormTropical Storm Debby
Aug 5, 2024EM-3607-GAEMTropical StormHurricane Debby
Mar 29, 2020DR-4501-GADRBiologicalCovid-19 Pandemic
Mar 13, 2020EM-3464-GAEMBiologicalCovid-19
Sep 1, 2019EM-3422-GAEMHurricaneHurricane Dorian
Oct 10, 2018EM-3406-GAEMHurricaneHurricane Michael
Sep 15, 2017DR-4338-GADRHurricaneHurricane Irma
Sep 8, 2017EM-3387-GAEMHurricaneHurricane Irma
Oct 8, 2016DR-4284-GADRHurricaneHurricane Matthew
Oct 6, 2016EM-3379-GAEMHurricaneHurricane Matthew
Sep 5, 2005EM-3218-GAEMHurricaneHurricane Katrina Evacuation
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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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