Natural hazards · Lauderdale

Lauderdale, MS natural hazards

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

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Lauderdale to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding43%Cold waves31%Tornadoes12%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Lauderdale faces

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

Inland flooding

43% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

31% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 18 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat 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 Lauderdale flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lauderdale County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Lauderdale

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into LauderdaleDeclared for Lauderdale County only

2017

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

27 households applied for aid $98K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

700 households applied for aid $619K aid approved

2004

Hurricane Ivan

255 households applied for aid $457K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Floods

51 households applied for aid $146K aid approved

Lauderdale County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and tornadoes.

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