Natural hazards · Cecil

Cecil, GA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cecil comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Cecil?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cecil to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes42%Inland flooding27%Tornadoes12%Cold waves8%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Cecil faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Hurricanes

42% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 29% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 23 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Cecil flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cecil.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Cecil isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Cook County.

Disasters that hit Cecil

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Cecil itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Cecil.

Brought FEMA money into CecilDeclared for Cook County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

81 households applied for aid $52K aid approved

2023

Hurricane Idalia

7 households applied for aid

2017

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

Cook County has had 12 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Cecil is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Cecil’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Cecil. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.