Natural hazards · Fernwood

Fernwood, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fernwood comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fernwood?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fernwood to be higher than in 55% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding38%Tornadoes24%Hurricanes20%Heat waves5%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Fernwood faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

24% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 49 years in the area

Hurricanes

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Fernwood flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pike County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Fernwood

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into FernwoodDeclared for Pike County only

2021

Hurricane Ida

6 households applied for aid $300 aid approved

2012

Hurricane Isaac

9 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

81 households applied for aid $124K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Floods

9 households applied for aid $6K aid approved

Pike County has had 26 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and severe storms.

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