Natural hazards · Mathiston

Mathiston, MS natural hazards

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

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mathiston to be higher than in 39% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding29%Tornadoes24%Cold waves13%Earthquakes10%Heat waves7%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Mathiston faces

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

Inland flooding

29% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 30% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

24% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 7 years in the area

Cold waves

13% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 78% of U.S. places

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about 12 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Mathiston flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Webster County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Mathiston

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MathistonDeclared for Webster County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

1 household applied for aid

2011

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

102 households applied for aid $115K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

8 households applied for aid $501 aid approved

Webster County has had 18 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. Mathiston 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 Mathiston’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Mathiston. 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.