Natural hazards · Alligator

Alligator, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Alligator comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high 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 Alligator?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Alligator to be higher than in 70% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding42%Earthquakes24%Tornadoes12%Drought8%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Alligator faces

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

Inland flooding

42% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

24% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Alligator flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Bolivar County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

4storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Alligator

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into AlligatorDeclared for Bolivar County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

45 households applied for aid $192K aid approved $4K to the Town of Alligator for repairs

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $9K aid approved

2011

Flooding

43 households applied for aid $176K aid approved

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

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