States › Georgia › Bleckley County

Bleckley County, Georgia

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 13023 · 12,607 residents (2021) · 216 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 23Tornado · 19Flood · 7Wind · 82Winter · 8

Bleckley County within Georgia. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Bleckley County, Georgia, has 216 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 100.1 events per 100 square miles, in line with the Georgia figure of 98.3, and 171.3 per 10,000 residents against 52.5 statewide.

4 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 2 deaths and 28 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $2.5M and crop damage at $160M.

FEMA has designated the county in 16 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm (emergency, 24 Jan 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 1 claim since 1978, of which 1 were paid, totalling $6K (about $6K per paid claim). FEMA counts 15 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Very Low" and its expected annual loss as "Very Low" ($6.6M a year across 18 hazards).

61 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 1 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

4events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

216events since 19502 deaths, 28 injuries recorded

16disaster declarationslast 24 Jan 2026

1NFIP flood claims$6K paid

Compared with Georgia and the United States

Measure	Bleckley County	Georgia	US
Recorded events since 1950	216	56,743	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	100.1	98.3	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	171.3	52.5	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	4	1,541	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	2	447	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$2.5M	$8.7B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	0.1	2.3	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$6K	$29K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	6.7	10.3	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 1

Tornado: 4Wind: 1

Hail: 2Tornado: 4Wind: 7

Hail: 1Tornado: 1Wind: 12

Hail: 6Tornado: 1Flood: 3Wind: 19Heat: 2Cold: 2Drought: 3

Hail: 10Tornado: 1Flood: 3Wind: 22Winter: 3Tropical: 11Heat: 7Cold: 12Drought: 17Lightning: 2Fog: 2Other: 2

Hail: 4Tornado: 3Flood: 1Wind: 11Winter: 3Tropical: 4Heat: 3Drought: 5

Tornado: 4Wind: 10Winter: 2Tropical: 2Drought: 3

11950s51960s131970s141980s361990s922000s342010s212020s

Recorded events in Bleckley County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 74 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 111 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind82

Drought28

Hail23

Tornado19

Tropical17

Cold14

Heat12

Winter8

Flood7

Lightning2

Fog2

Other2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	82	—	0.3%	detail
■ Drought	28	—	0.5%
■ Hail	23	—	0.3%	detail
■ Tornado	19	—	0.8%	detail
■ Tropical	17	—	0.7%
■ Cold	14	—	0.9%
■ Heat	12	2	0.9%
■ Winter	8	—	0.2%
■ Flood	7	—	0.2%
■ Lightning	2	—	0.2%
■ Fog	2	—	0.9%
■ Other	2	—	0.2%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
23 Jul 2010	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	2	—	Forecast zone
24 Jan 1958	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	16	County
7 Apr 2007	Frost/Freeze	Cold	—	—	$155M	—	—	Forecast zone
16 Mar 1972	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	12	County
1 Jun 2000	Drought	Drought	—	—	$4.6M	—	—	Forecast zone
16 Dec 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$500K	—	—	—	County
12 Nov 1992	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250K	—	—	—	County
1 Mar 2007	Tornado	Tornado	EF0	$250K	—	—	—	County
10 May 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	60 mph	$125K	—	—	—	County
6 Sep 2004	High Wind	Wind	40 mph	$100K	—	—	—	Forecast zone
27 Mar 2005	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$100K	—	—	—	County
11 Sep 2017	Tropical Storm	Tropical	—	$100K	—	—	—	Forecast zone

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
24 Jan 2026	EM-3642	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
30 Sep 2024	DR-4830	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Helene	Public assistance
26 Sep 2024	EM-3616	Emergency	Tropical Storm	Hurricane Helene	Public assistance
29 Mar 2020	DR-4501	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3464	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
14 Oct 2018	DR-4400	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Michael	Public assistance
10 Oct 2018	EM-3406	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Michael	Public assistance
15 Sep 2017	DR-4338	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma	Public assistance
8 Sep 2017	EM-3387	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Irma	Public assistance
11 Feb 2014	EM-3368	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
5 Sep 2005	EM-3218	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
24 Sep 2004	DR-1560	Major disaster	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Frances	Public assistance
11 Mar 1998	DR-1209	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
15 Mar 1993	EM-3097	Emergency	Snowstorm	Severe Snowfall, Winter Storm	Public assistance
20 Jul 1977	EM-3044	Emergency	Drought	Drought	Public assistance
14 Mar 1966	DR-214	Major disaster	Flood	Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Bleckley County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19781

Paid claims1

Total paid$6K

Average paid claim$6K

Repetitive-loss properties0

Residential policies in force150.3% of 5,411 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2020	1	1	$6,203	$6,203

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskVery Lowscore 25.7 of 100

Expected annual loss$6.6MVery Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively High

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,828,756
Inland flooding	Very Low	$1,467,800
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,173,214
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$640,922
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$630,912
Tornado	Relatively Low	$350,657
Earthquake	Very Low	$210,897
Strong wind	Relatively Low	$135,104
Lightning	Relatively Low	$70,607
Hail	Very Low	$51,825
Wildfire	Very Low	$34,331
Ice storm	Very Low	$3,048
Winter weather	Very Low	$1,522
Landslide	Very Low	$4

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles61

Tracks within 50 miles18

Hurricane strength within 50 miles1

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Helene	2024	35 mi	92 mph
Idalia	2023	81 mi	69 mph
Elsa	2021	74 mi	52 mph
Nestor	2019	99 mi	40 mph
Michael	2018	26 mi	92 mph
Irma	2017	73 mi	40 mph
Hermine	2016	78 mi	58 mph
Alberto	2006	84 mi	40 mph
Tammy	2005	84 mi	40 mph
Jeanne	2004	98 mi	40 mph
Earl	1998	54 mi	52 mph
Kate	1985	65 mi	75 mph
Abby	1968	83 mi	40 mph
Alma	1966	93 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1965	52 mi	46 mph
Cleo	1964	89 mi	46 mph
Dora	1964	58 mi	69 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1957	84 mi	40 mph
Flossy	1956	38 mi	46 mph
Florence	1953	59 mi	46 mph
King	1950	85 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1949	51 mi	75 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1947	59 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1946	95 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1941	21 mi	69 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Bleckley County, GA?

NCEI records 23 hail events in Bleckley County since 1950, in 18 different years; that is about 0.3 recorded events a year. 4 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Bleckley County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 19 tornadoes in Bleckley County since 1950, 4 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 0.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Bleckley County?

24 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 16 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Bleckley County, and how much was paid?

1 NFIP claim since 1978, 1 of them paid, for $6K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Bleckley County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Very Low" for overall risk, "Very Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively High" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Moderate" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Bleckley County compare with the rest of Georgia?

100.1 recorded events per 100 square miles against 98.3 statewide, and 0.1 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 2.3. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.