Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Pachuta
Pachuta isn’t graded for hazard risk: Pachuta has 351 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Pachuta 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
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
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 Pachuta flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Pachuta. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Pachuta isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Clarke County.7 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Pachuta
Disasters that paid out in Pachuta itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Pachuta), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2023Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes.6 households applied for aid$4K aid approved
- 2020Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding14 households applied for aid$24K aid approved
- 2012Hurricane Isaac16 households applied for aid$4K aid approved
- 2011Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Associated Flooding14 households applied for aid$33K aid approved
- 2005Hurricane Katrina536 households applied for aid$503K aid approved
- 2004Hurricane Ivan10 households applied for aid$7K aid approved
Show all 7
- 2003Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Floods1 households applied for aid$4K aid approved
Clarke County has had 20 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then severe storms.
Old photos of Pachuta after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Pachuta archive →Get ready for what Pachuta 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Pachuta
Is Pachuta 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 Clarke County, 14% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.1% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Pachuta?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Pachuta’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 Pachuta?
By FEMA money that reached Pachuta, Hurricane Katrina (2005): 536 households applied for aid, $503K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Pachuta.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Pachuta’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.