Natural hazards · Marion

Marion, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Marion comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 4 claims here since 1979. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Marion?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Marion to be higher than in 45% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves35%Inland flooding30%Tornadoes17%Heat waves5%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Marion faces

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

Cold waves

35% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 22 years in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Marion flood?

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

4paid claims since 1979

$81Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

2026-06-Arthur-TS: 1 claim, $19K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Marion 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

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Marion

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MarionDeclared for Lauderdale County only

2005

Hurricane Katrina

221 households applied for aid $157K aid approved

2004

Hurricane Ivan

24 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Floods

8 households applied for aid $55K 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. Marion 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 Marion’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Marion. 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.