Natural hazards · Clarkesville

Clarkesville, GA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Clarkesville comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2018. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Clarkesville?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Clarkesville to be higher than in 29% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding52%Cold waves15%Tornadoes12%Earthquakes7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Clarkesville faces

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

Inland flooding

52% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 62% of U.S. places

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Clarkesville flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Clarkesville, from FEMA’s records.

3paid claims since 2018

$106Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20182026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Habersham County.

Disasters that hit Clarkesville

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ClarkesvilleDeclared for Habersham County only

2020

Tropical Storm Zeta

$40K to the City of Clarkesville for repairs

2011

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

26 households applied for aid $511 aid approved

Habersham County has had 16 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. Clarkesville 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 Clarkesville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Clarkesville. 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.