Natural hazards · Decatur

Decatur, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Decatur comes from tornadoes, 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 Decatur?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Decatur to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes30%Inland flooding25%Cold waves15%Hurricanes11%Strong wind6%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Decatur faces

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

Tornadoes

30% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Inland flooding

25% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 31% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Decatur flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Newton County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

34storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Decatur

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into DecaturDeclared for Newton County only

2011

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

12 households applied for aid $43K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

785 households applied for aid $543K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Floods

10 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

Newton County has had 20 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. Decatur 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 Decatur’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Decatur. 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.