Effingham County, GA flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Effingham County sits at the 51.8th national percentile, below the national norm for flood hazard; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 4 years. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
39.8% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Effingham County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 322 policies against 810 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 3% of all residential structures in Effingham County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
How Effingham County compares nationally
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Effingham County ranks 1579 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 764 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 73,148 people live in Effingham County, Georgia, spread over 478.887 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Effingham County
Across all of Effingham County's 24,219 residential structures, 717 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Effingham County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. If you're unsure why any of this insurance requirement exists at all, the SFHA explainer covers it from first principles.