Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Storms, floods and disasters in Tignall
Tignall isn’t graded for hazard risk: Tignall has 763 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Tignall faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Tornadoes
Hurricanes
Earthquakes
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Tignall flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Tignall. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Tignall 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.3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Tignall
Disasters that paid out in Tignall itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Tignall), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Hurricane Helene295 households applied for aid$192K aid approved$15K to the Town of Tignall for repairs
- 2017Hurricane Irma$3K to the Town of Tignall for repairs
- 2004Hurricane Ivan1 households applied for aid$750 to the Town of Tignall for repairs
Wilkes County has had 11 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then severe storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Tignall after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Tignall archive →Get ready for what Tignall faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Tignall
Is Tignall in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Wilkes County, 0.0% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Tignall?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Tignall’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Tignall?
By FEMA money that reached Tignall, Hurricane Helene (2024): 295 households applied for aid, $192K approved, and $15K to the Town of Tignall for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Tignall.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Tignall’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.