Natural hazards · Macon

Macon, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Macon comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1983. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Macon?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Macon to be higher than in 73% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding39%Tornadoes21%Earthquakes11%Cold waves11%Heat waves7%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Macon faces

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

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

21% of expected damage

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

Earthquakes

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Cold waves

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Macon flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Macon, from FEMA’s records.

3paid claims since 1983

$6Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19832026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Noxubee County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

26storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Macon

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MaconDeclared for Noxubee County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

5 households applied for aid

2005

Hurricane Katrina

1,420 households applied for aid $1.1M aid approved

2002

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

6 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

Noxubee County has had 17 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. Macon covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Macon’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Macon. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Macon total about $1.2M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.