Natural hazards · Rayle

Rayle, GA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rayle comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Rayle?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rayle to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.

Inland flooding39%Hurricanes17%Cold waves10%Tornadoes8%Everything else26%

By hazard

What Rayle faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Hurricanes

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years 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 Rayle flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wilkes County.

Disasters that hit Rayle

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RayleDeclared for Wilkes County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

82 households applied for aid $47K aid approved

Wilkes 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. Rayle 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 Rayle’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Rayle. 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.