Natural hazards · Rochelle

Rochelle, GA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rochelle comes from hurricanes, 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 Rochelle?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rochelle to be higher than in 32% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes29%Inland flooding22%Tornadoes16%Drought13%Strong wind7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Rochelle faces

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

Hurricanes

29% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 16% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 23 years in the area

Drought

13% of expected damage

Recorded about 23 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Rochelle flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Wilcox County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Rochelle

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RochelleDeclared for Wilcox County only

2024

Hurricane Helene

11 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

2018

Hurricane Michael

$28K to the City of Rochelle for repairs

2017

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

32 households applied for aid $18K aid approved

Wilcox County has had 13 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. Rochelle 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 Rochelle’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Rochelle. 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.