Community preparedness — Georgia
Hurricanes on the coast, tornadoes across the Piedmont, ice storms that paralyze Atlanta, and extreme heat statewide. UGA Extension in every county, CERT teams from Rabun Gap to Tybee Island, and 50+ ham radio clubs. Georgia's network is as wide as the state itself. Here's how to find it.
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Community calendar
CERT trainings, canning workshops, ham radio exams, garden workdays, first aid classes. Events from local organizations that build community resilience.
159
County extension offices
4
NWS forecast offices
50+
Amateur radio clubs
1
Red Cross region
Where to plug in
Georgia spans from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Okefenokee Swamp, and its 159 counties each face their own hazard mix. The north Georgia mountains deal with flooding and winter storms. Metro Atlanta faces severe thunderstorms and ice. The coastal plain prepares for hurricanes, tornadoes, and extreme heat. The organizations below operate at the county level because that's where the knowledge is specific.
UGA Cooperative Extension operates offices in all 159 Georgia counties — more individual county offices than any other state east of Texas. Extension agents deliver programming on agriculture, horticulture, food safety, financial literacy, 4-H youth development, and community development. Georgia's enormous agricultural economy (poultry, pecans, peanuts, cotton, blueberries) means extension programming reaches deep into rural communities. Fort Valley State University also operates 1890 Extension programs serving historically underserved communities.
The Master Gardener program trains thousands of volunteers statewide who then deliver free gardening education at plant clinics and community workshops. Extension runs food preservation workshops, storm preparedness programming, and the Georgia 4-H program — one of the largest in the nation. Whether you're in metro Atlanta or rural South Georgia, your county extension office is the most underused free resource in the community.
The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) coordinates the state's all-hazards emergency program. GEMA/HS works through county emergency management agencies across all 159 counties and operates eight regional field coordinators. Georgia's emergency management system is battle-tested by hurricanes on the coast, tornadoes across the Piedmont, and ice storms that can shut down the Atlanta metro.
CERT programs are active across the state. Fulton County (Atlanta), DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Chatham (Savannah), Bibb (Macon), and Muscogee (Columbus) counties run established programs. After Hurricane Michael devastated southwest Georgia in 2018, rural counties that had minimal CERT infrastructure saw the gap firsthand. Training is free and typically runs 8 sessions.
The American Red Cross Georgia Region serves the entire state through chapters in Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Macon, Columbus, and other cities. All offer first aid, CPR, AED, and water safety classes year-round. Georgia's Red Cross chapters are among the most active in the Southeast, responding to home fires, severe weather, and hurricane impacts throughout the year.
During Hurricane Michael in October 2018, Red Cross volunteers deployed across south Georgia, opening shelters in Albany, Valdosta, and surrounding rural communities. The storm's Category 3 winds devastated agricultural communities that had never experienced a hurricane of that intensity so far inland. Volunteer entry points include shelter operations, disaster assessment, feeding, and blood drives.
Georgia has over 50 amateur radio clubs in the ARRL Georgia Section, part of the Southeastern Division. ARES teams are activated for severe weather outbreaks, hurricanes, and extended power outages. During Hurricane Michael, ham operators in south Georgia provided emergency communications for rural counties where cell towers were destroyed and landlines were down for weeks.
Getting licensed costs $15 for the exam and about $35 for a basic handheld radio. Study at hamstudy.org, then find an exam session. Clubs in Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Macon, Columbus, Athens, and Albany host exams regularly. The Atlanta Hamfest is one of the largest in the Southeast.
Multiple NWS offices serve Georgia: Peachtree City (metro Atlanta, central and northwest Georgia), Jacksonville FL (southeast Georgia and the coast), Tallahassee FL (southwest Georgia), and Greenville-Spartanburg SC (northeast mountains). Each runs SKYWARN spotter training, typically before severe weather season in spring.
Georgia's weather hazards include tornadoes across the Piedmont and coastal plain, severe thunderstorms with damaging hail (metro Atlanta gets hammered by hail regularly), tropical systems pushing inland from the coast, flash flooding in the north Georgia mountains, and extreme heat across the southern half of the state. Training is free and runs about 2 hours.
Georgia has over 400 public library locations across 63 library systems, overseen by Georgia Public Library Service. Systems like Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, DeKalb County Public Library, and Chatham County (Savannah) run extensive programming. Many rural Georgia libraries serve as the primary community gathering point and information hub, especially in small-county communities.
The Technical College System of Georgia operates 22 colleges across the state, serving every region. Institutions like Georgia Piedmont Technical College (Atlanta area), Savannah Technical College, Central Georgia Technical College (Macon), and Albany Technical College offer affordable continuing education in EMT certification, fire science, welding, HVAC, electrical work, and diesel technology.
Why this matters
On October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall on the Florida Panhandle as a Category 5 storm, then pushed through southwest Georgia with Category 3 force — something most residents had never imagined possible 100 miles from the coast. Pecan orchards that had stood for decades were flattened. Cotton and peanut crops were destroyed. The agricultural communities of Seminole, Decatur, Miller, Mitchell, and Dougherty counties were devastated.
In rural south Georgia, where the nearest hospital might be 40 miles away, community networks became the primary response system. Volunteer fire departments ran chainsaw operations to clear roads. Ham radio operators established emergency communications for counties that lost cell service for days. Extension agents — already the most trusted figures in these farming communities — helped coordinate donated supplies and connected farm families with USDA disaster recovery programs.
Red Cross volunteers opened shelters in Albany and surrounding communities. Churches that served as informal community centers opened as distribution points. Neighbors with heavy equipment cleared debris from roads before county crews could arrive. The Cajun Navy deployed from Louisiana to assist with rescue and supply delivery.
Michael proved that rural Georgia, often overlooked in disaster planning, faces the same hurricane risk as the coast — just without the infrastructure to absorb it. The organizations on this page build the capacity that rural counties need before the next storm.
The foundation
Community resilience begins with a household that can take care of itself. Cover the first 72 hours, then extend outward to your street, your neighborhood, your town.
Start with the first 72 hours