Natural hazards · Mississippi

Mississippi, IL natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mississippi comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Mississippi?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mississippi to be higher than in 44% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and heat waves.

Inland flooding24%Heat waves23%Cold waves16%Earthquakes12%Tornadoes12%Strong wind6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Mississippi faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

23% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 75% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 18% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 44 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Mississippi flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Mississippi.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Mississippi isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Jersey County.

Disasters that hit Mississippi

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Jersey County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Mississippi itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into MississippiDeclared for Jersey County only

Jersey County has had 18 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and severe storms.

Around Mississippi

Mississippi and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Elsahmostly inland floodingHigh

Otter Creekmostly inland floodingHigh

Piasamostly inland floodingHigh

Mississippimostly inland floodingModerate

Jerseymostly inland floodingModerate

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Mississippi is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Mississippi’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of Mississippi. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.