Natural hazards · Abbeville

Abbeville, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Abbeville comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Abbeville?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Abbeville to be higher than in 44% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and earthquakes.

Cold waves27%Earthquakes24%Inland flooding20%Tornadoes14%Heat waves7%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Abbeville faces

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

Cold waves

27% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

24% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

20% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Abbeville flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lafayette County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

68storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Abbeville

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Abbeville itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Abbeville.

Brought FEMA money into AbbevilleDeclared for Lafayette County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

314 households applied for aid $819K aid approved

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Associated Flooding

3 households applied for aid

2010

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

31 households applied for aid $43K aid approved

Lafayette County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

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. Abbeville 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 Abbeville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Abbeville. 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.