Risk-assessment baseline packet. County FIPS 05049. Release 2026-10, data as of 2026-09-30.
Summary
Plan status as of 2026-09-30: Expired on 2014-12-15. Plan: Fulton County (FEMA plan 51029), approved 2009-12-15.
Since the plan was approved on 2009-12-15: 9 new hazard declarations (8 incidents) and 182 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 ($3,296,279 a year), Ice Storm ($2,250,865) and Tornado ($1,186,557).
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 changed since your last plan (approved 2009-12-15)
- New federal declarations:
- 9 new hazard declarations (8 incidents): DR-1975-AR (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding), DR-4160-AR (Severe Winter Storm), DR-4174-AR (Severe Storms,Tornadoes, and Flooding), DR-4318-AR (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding), EM-3541-AR (Hurricane Laura), DR-4788-AR (Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding), EM-3627-AR (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding), DR-4873-AR (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding), EM-3636-AR (Severe Winter Storm); also 2 COVID-19 declarations (not counted)
- Storm Events records since approval:
- 182 records (data through 2026-06-30)
- Repetitive loss now:
- FMA RL 2, SRL 4 (44 CFR 77.2); any definition: 11
- Repeat-flood change:
- this release sets the baseline count.
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.
Supports FEMA checklist item B1-a Hazard identification
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, Ice Storm and Tornado.
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
- 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
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: 4.25 in hail, 2022-04-15; same size also recorded on 2006-04-02
- Thunderstorm Wind: 78 kt (90 mph) estimated gust, Thunderstorm Wind, 2016-05-09
- Tornado: F4 tornado, 1982-12-24, 15 mi path length (whole path, pre-1996), 440 yd wide, $250,000 property; crops not recorded (1982 dollars), 5 direct injuries
Supports FEMA checklist item B1-d Previous occurrences
Federal declarations for this area: 28 declarations covering 23 separate hazard incidents counted in this packet; each with type, dates and county Public Assistance dollars.
New since the last plan (approved 2009-12-15): EM-3636-AR, DR-4873-AR, EM-3627-AR, DR-4788-AR, EM-3541-AR, DR-4518-AR, EM-3461-AR, DR-4318-AR, DR-4174-AR, DR-4160-AR and DR-1975-AR.
6 statewide declarations listed separately.
Hazards with no Storm Events record and no federal declaration are stated as such (6 of 18).
Storm Events history: 420 records (notable ones in the PDF, all of them in the Excel file).
Supports FEMA checklist item B1-e Probability of future events
FEMA annualized frequency (modeled) for each hazard, with a descriptor from a scale defined in the packet.
- Highly likely: Hail, Landslide, Lightning, Strong Wind and Winter Weather
- Likely: Drought, Heat Wave, Ice Storm, Inland Flooding and Tornado
- Possible: Hurricane and Wildfire
- Unlikely: Earthquake
Historical frequency by intensity band (tornado, hail, wind): 9 bands from Storm Events.
Supports FEMA checklist item B1-f Hazards that vary across jurisdictions
Range of census tract risk scores within the area for 14 of the 18 hazards (4 tracts; rated tracts only).
5 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 matched to a jurisdiction row here (for example county departments filed under their own names, such as a highway department or emergency management agency, and 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
The packet's table gives county-level starting figures; the plan describes impacts for each jurisdiction and its own assets.
Storm Events damage since 2009-12-15: $6,159,000 in county-coded records (98 records); $1,827,000 reported for the zone (84 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
Supports FEMA checklist item B2-a Vulnerability (county context)
Population 12,050; building value $2,112,089,013 and agriculture value $37,275,111 (total, not at risk).
National Risk Index rating Relatively 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): 2 repetitive loss, 4 severe repetitive loss. NFIP insurance definition: 11 and 4.
Mitigated 1; insured 2; NFIP data as of 2026-08-02. Counts by occupancy group and for each jurisdiction are in the packet.