Natural hazards · Hickory

Hickory, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hickory 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 Hickory?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hickory to be higher than in 69% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding28%Tornadoes23%Cold waves14%Hurricanes13%Drought8%Strong wind5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Hickory faces

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

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

23% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Strong wind

5% 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 wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Hickory flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Hickory 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

26storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Hickory

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HickoryDeclared for Newton County only

2011

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

9 households applied for aid $53K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

397 households applied for aid $278K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Floods

12 households applied for aid $35K 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. Hickory 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 Hickory’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Hickory. 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.