Natural hazards · Plains

Plains, GA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Plains comes from drought, and overall the risk is low 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 Plains?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Drought36%Inland flooding24%Hurricanes15%Tornadoes8%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Plains faces

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

Drought

36% of expected damage

Recorded about 61 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Hurricanes

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Plains flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Sumter County.

Disasters that hit Plains

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PlainsDeclared for Sumter County only

2018

Hurricane Michael

56 households applied for aid $31K aid approved

2007

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

13 households applied for aid $322 aid approved

2004

Tropical Storm Frances

$2K to the City of Plains for repairs

Sumter County has had 10 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. Plains 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 Plains’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Plains. 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.