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Risk & Response

Chatham County, GA

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 77.2 Relatively High

300,879
Population
8
Departments
45
Stations
88
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
2.53
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
2nd highest of 159
Life Safety per 100k
0.84
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
36th highest of 159
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$241.7M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
1st highest of 159
Property Loss per Resident
$803
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
3rd highest of 159

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Chatham County, the largest single contributor is Hurricane, 36% of the life-safety total.

Chatham County carries an expected 3 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $241.7M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 159 Georgia counties. Nationally, Chatham County ranks 216th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1999th for life safety per 100k residents, 70th for property loss, and 247th for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Chatham County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Chatham County.

Talk to us about Chatham County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

87%
13%
Property (buildings): $241.7M (87.3%)
Life safety: $34.6M (12.5%)
Agriculture: $408K (0.1%)

Total expected annual loss: $276,746,342 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Hurricane
$12.4M
Heat Wave
$6.4M
Earthquake
$4.5M
Cold Wave
$3.6M
Coastal Flooding
$2.1M
Tornado
$1.8M

By property loss ($/yr)

Hurricane
$176.3M
Inland Flooding
$41.5M
Coastal Flooding
$10.9M
Earthquake
$8.0M
Wildfire
$1.8M
Tornado
$1.6M

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Chatham County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

75%
12%
12%
Career: 75% (6)
Combination: 12% (1)
Volunteer: 12% (1)
Residents per Station
6,686
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
15.0
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 8 departments registered in NERIS Public for Chatham County, GA. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Chatham County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 8 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Savannah Fire Department 152,951 $18.7M Relatively High 16
Chatham County Fire Department 98,343 $10.8M Relatively High 15
Pooler Fire Rescue 30,496 $2.9M Very High 5
Garden City Fire Department 13,473 $1.5M Very High 2
Port Wentworth Fire Department 14,702 $1.2M Very High 3
Tybee Island Fire Department 6,593 $985.3K Very High 2
Thunderbolt Fire Department 5,062 $649.9K Very High 1
Isle Of Hope Volunteer Fire Department 3,278 $450.5K Relatively High 1
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

14.3%
Poverty Rate
16.7%
Age 65+
16.0%
Disability Rate
12.9%
Uninsured
42.0%
Pre-1980 Housing
3.5%
Mobile Homes
12.5%
Vacancy Rate
0.1%
Wood Heat
$75,493
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

12
Last 10 Years
13
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo