Natural hazards · Bentonia

Bentonia, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bentonia comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Bentonia?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bentonia to be higher than in 57% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and tornadoes.

Cold waves30%Tornadoes25%Inland flooding17%Lightning7%Heat waves5%Strong wind5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Bentonia faces

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

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

25% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Inland flooding

17% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lightning

7% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesDrought

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 Bentonia flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Yazoo County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

50storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Bentonia

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into BentoniaDeclared for Yazoo County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

264 households applied for aid $692K aid approved

2011

Flooding

2 households applied for aid

2010

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

2 households applied for aid

2005

Hurricane Katrina

400 households applied for aid $156K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Floods

98 households applied for aid $75K aid approved

Yazoo County has had 24 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. Bentonia 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 Bentonia’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Bentonia. 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.