Vidalia

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Toombs County, the county that contains Vidalia.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

The drought index is for Toombs County, the county that contains Vidalia.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 11, 2008Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that an EF2 tornado touched down in extreme northwest Toombs county, approxmiately three miles south-southwest of Normantown. This tornado was spawned by the same thunderstorm that less than 10 minutes prior had spanwed an EF3 tornado, the strongest tornado of this event, just south of Soperton in Treutlen county, which tracked into extreme northeast Montgomery county. This first tornado in Toombs county was only on the ground for about one mile, but caused considerable damage. Four mobile homes were completely destroyed, resulting in three minor injuries and the…

2. Aug 11, 2007Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Toombs County Emergency Management Director reported that a thunderstorm downburst or microburst resulted in considerable damage across the northwest and north central part of the county, but especially in the Vidalia area. More than 30 large oak trees were blown down in the city of Vidalia, proper, with a scattering of other trees down from northwest of Vidalia to near Santa Claus southeast of Vidalia. The worst path of damage extended from just northwest of Vidalia, southeastward through the heart of the city, to just south of town. Several homes were damaged, some from downed trees and others had their roofs blown off. Furthermore, a Hardees restaurant under construction in…

3. Sep 6, 2004High Wind, Toombs$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   High wind damage, associated with Tropical Storm Frances, is listed below, in alphabetical order by county for those counties that "high wind" criteria was either met or assumed to be met.Baldwin: The Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported that extensive and widespread wind damage was observed. Many trees and power lines were down throughout the county and many parts of the county were expected to be without power for up to four days as a result. In addition, four homes suffered major damage and five suffered minor damage. One man was injured and taken to a local hospital when a tree fell on his mobile home. Four to five inches of rain was also reported throughout the…

4. May 25, 2014Hail$154,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported hail the size of a hen egg north of New Branch.

5. Sep 11, 2017Tropical Storm, Toombs$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The media reported numerous trees and power lines blown down across the county. A fast food restaurant under construction in Vidalia was blown down and several homes were damaged. A wind gust of 53 mph was measured between Vidalia and Santa Claus. Radar estimated between 1.5 and 3 inches of rain fell across the county. No injuries were reported.

6. Mar 30, 1997Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Toombs county EMA director reported numerous trees down in Cedar Crossing and along highway 56 in the southern part of the county from Cedar Crossing to Johnson Corner. Power lines were blown down, two chimneys were blown off of a house and the roof was blown off of an equipment shed at an onion processing facility. A barn was also demolished. There were two unconfirmed reports of tornadoes.

7. Jun 5, 2012Hail$135,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The public reported that golf ball sized hail fell in Vidalia for about 15 minutes.

8. Apr 7, 2014Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A National Weather Service storm survey determined that straight-line winds from a bow echo resulted in scattered wind damage across southern Toombs County from Greys Landing Road to Charlie Hart Road. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped in sporadic intervals in several locations along the roughly 11-mile path. Damage to livestock buildings and a center pivot irrigation system occurred. An unanchored single-wide mobile home was rolled and destroyed. Wind gusts were estimated to be around 70 MPH.

9. Aug 18, 2020Lightning$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Toombs County 911 center reported a home struck by lightning on Meadows Lane. The resulting fire caused substantial damage to the home.

10. Jun 14, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$65,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Toombs County Emergency Management reported that two to three trees were blown down onto two houses and a car.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

Declarations for Toombs County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.