Risk-assessment baseline packet. County FIPS 13017. Release 2026-10, data as of 2026-09-30.
Summary
Plan status as of 2026-09-30: Approved, expires 2030-09-08. Plan: Ben Hill County (FEMA plan 110658), approved 2025-09-09.
Since the plan was approved on 2025-09-09: no new hazard declaration and 15 NOAA Storm Events records; details under "What changed since your last plan".
Highest expected annual loss (FEMA National Risk Index, modeled total; see B1-a): Inland Flooding ($1,688,914 a year), Tornado ($1,276,025) and Hurricane ($811,306).
The packet's tables are organized by the items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, Element B (B1-a to B2-c); the summaries below follow the same order.
What the packet contains
Sections in FEMA checklist order; each heading names the review item its tables support. Full tables are in the downloads above. Section headings show the GEMA local hazard mitigation plan template letter (A to I) next to the FEMA checklist item (template: https://gema.georgia.gov/document/publication/local-hazard-mitigation-plan-update-template/download). No letter is documented for repetitive loss; place B2-c where your GEMA template puts it.
Supports FEMA checklist item B1-a Hazard identification GEMA template A
14 of the 18 National Risk Index hazards apply here.
Not applicable to this county per NRI, with no federal declaration and no Storm Events record since 1996: avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami and volcanic activity. That is the evidence for leaving them out of the plan.
Highest expected annual loss (NRI, modeled): Inland Flooding, Tornado and Hurricane.
Not covered by NRI (local data needed): dam failure (incl. upstream dams); levee failure; flash flood as its own subtype; ice jams; debris flows; erosion (riverine and coastal); land subsidence and sinkholes; expansive soils.
The state hazard mitigation plan also lists hazards for this county; FEMA asks the plan to explain any hazard it leaves out.
Supports FEMA checklist item B1-b Hazard location GEMA template B
- Cold Wave, Drought, Hail, Heat Wave, Ice Storm, Lightning, Strong Wind and Winter Weather: affects the whole county; national data give no location within it.
- Earthquake, Hurricane, Landslide, Tornado and Wildfire vary within the county; the packet lists the highest-rated census tracts for each.
- Inland Flooding: the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is the required location source for flooding. See the FEMA Flood Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov) for this county.
Supports FEMA checklist item B1-c Hazard extent GEMA template B
Storm Events records for 13 of the 20 NOAA event-type groups mapped to the 18 hazards, with the scale, observed range and worst recorded event for each; the others say which local data are needed.
Worst recorded tornado, hail and thunderstorm wind (the three event types on record since the 1950s; the packet has every group):
- Hail: 2 in hail, 1958-04-21
- Thunderstorm Wind: 85 kt (98 mph), measurement type not recorded, Thunderstorm Wind, 1993-10-30, 4 direct injuries
- Tornado: F2 tornado, 1963-06-14, 0.5 mi path length (whole path, pre-1996), 33 yd wide, $250,000 property; crops not recorded (1963 dollars), 2 direct injuries
Supports FEMA checklist item B1-d Previous occurrences GEMA template B
Federal declarations for this area: 15 declarations covering 9 separate hazard incidents counted in this packet; each with type, dates and county Public Assistance dollars.
New since the last plan (approved 2025-09-09): none.
6 statewide declarations listed separately.
Hazards with no Storm Events record and no federal declaration are stated as such (7 of 18).
Storm Events history: 219 records (notable ones in the PDF, all of them in the Excel file).
Supports FEMA checklist item B1-e Probability of future events GEMA template B
FEMA annualized frequency (modeled) for each hazard, with a descriptor from a scale defined in the packet.
- Highly likely: Hail, Lightning and Strong Wind
- Likely: Drought, Hurricane, Inland Flooding, Tornado and Winter Weather
- Possible: Heat Wave, Ice Storm and Landslide
Historical frequency by intensity band (tornado, hail, wind): 9 bands from Storm Events.
Supports FEMA checklist item B1-f Hazards that vary across jurisdictions GEMA template F
Range of census tract risk scores within the area for 14 of the 18 hazards (6 tracts; rated tracts only).
2 jurisdictions: plan clock, repeat-flood count, Public Assistance dollars and event records naming the place (starting figures from federal data).
County Public Assistance in B1-d also includes applicants filed under the county that are not jurisdictions in this plan (for example state agencies, special districts and nonprofits), so the jurisdiction rows add up to less.
Supports FEMA checklist items B2-a and B2-b Vulnerability and potential impacts GEMA template C/D
The packet's table gives county-level starting figures; the plan describes impacts for each jurisdiction and its own assets.
Storm Events damage since 2025-09-09: $3,000 in county-coded records (7 records); none reported reported for the zone (8 zone records). Data through 2026-06-30; nominal dollars.
Local data needed
To gather:
- Critical facilities and lifelines per hazard
- A problem statement per jurisdiction per hazard
- Changes in development in hazard-prone areas since the last approval, or a statement of none (E1-a)
- Future assets
- The 2024 Georgia Hazard Mitigation Strategy says the State provides a Level 2 Hazus analysis as part of each county's plan update, and GMIS holds critical-facility data. Use them for B2-a and B2-b.
- The 2024 Georgia Hazard Mitigation Strategy notes that FEMA restricted access to repetitive-loss property data. The current list comes from GEMA/HS or the state NFIP coordinator.
Supports FEMA checklist item B2-a Vulnerability (county context) GEMA template I
Population 17,137; building value $3,739,255,207 and agriculture value $26,896,575 (total, not at risk).
National Risk Index rating Very Low; social vulnerability Very High; community resilience Very Low.
Supports FEMA checklist item B2-c Repetitive loss properties
Repetitive-loss properties, FMA definition (44 CFR 77.2): 0 repetitive loss, 0 severe repetitive loss. NFIP insurance definition: 1 and 0.
Mitigated 0; insured 0; NFIP data as of 2026-08-02. Counts by occupancy group and for each jurisdiction are in the packet.