Counties with the most emergency shelters in Georgia
As climate change drives weather to greater extremes, and devastating hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, and blizzards preoccupy an increasing number of Americans, it is hard to avoid comparing the reality of everyday news coverage to the computer-generated images seen in disaster movies.
Over the last 50 years, natural disasters have become five times more common due to climate change, according to the World Meteorological Organization. They've also become more economically debilitating—the five most expensive climate disasters in American history have all taken place over the last two decades.
The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters means that the need for emergency evacuation and shelter plans has never been greater. According to the Federal Emergency Management Association, understanding your climate risk, or proximity to probable natural disaster, is an important first step for making a plan. Tools like the Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation allow you to assess your risk by location.
Knowing where nearby emergency shelters are located is another way to prepare for the worst. In the event of flooding, hurricane-level winds, or other disasters, emergency shelters offer a place to sleep, and also often provide food, water, and first aid services. Stacker examined the Department of Homeland Security's National Shelter System Facilities database to identify the counties with the most emergency shelters in Georgia. Counties are ranked by emergency shelters per 100K people, with total capacity per 100K people serving as a tiebreaker.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the total emergency shelter capacity in each county. Due to the variable availability of that data for each shelter, the data point has been removed from the updated version.
#50. Early County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#49. Cook County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#48. Effingham County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#47. Emanuel County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#46. Laurens County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#45. Miller County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#44. Madison County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#43. Murray County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#42. Jefferson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#41. Heard County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#40. Pike County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#39. Crisp County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#38. Peach County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#37. Lamar County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#36. Berrien County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#35. Fannin County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#34. Tattnall County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#33. Towns County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#32. Chattooga County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 1
#31. Oglethorpe County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#30. Long County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#29. Bacon County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#28. Chattahoochee County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#27. Tift County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#26. Screven County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#25. Franklin County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#24. Macon County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#23. Elbert County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2
#22. Montgomery County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#21. Hancock County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#20. Echols County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#19. Banks County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#18. Atkinson County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#17. Clinch County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#16. Taylor County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#15. McDuffie County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#14. Evans County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#13. Candler County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#12. Greene County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#11. Marion County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#10. Morgan County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 2
#9. Wilkes County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#8. Taliaferro County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#7. Jenkins County
- Shelters listed with generators: 1
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#6. Warren County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#5. Lincoln County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#4. Baker County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#3. Stewart County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#2. Glascock County
- Shelters listed with generators: 0
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0
#1. Quitman County
- Shelters listed with generators: 2
- Shelters listed in 100-year floodplain: 0