Natural hazards · Myrtle

Myrtle, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Myrtle comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Myrtle?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Myrtle to be higher than in 52% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and earthquakes.

Inland flooding35%Earthquakes20%Cold waves19%Heat waves8%Tornadoes7%Strong wind6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Myrtle faces

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

Inland flooding

35% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 59% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Cold waves

19% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 61% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 69% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightningDrought

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 Myrtle flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Union County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

90storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Myrtle

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MyrtleDeclared for Union County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

243 households applied for aid $377K aid approved $14K to the Town of Myrtle for repairs

2010

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$9K to the Town of Myrtle for repairs

Union County has had 14 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. Myrtle 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 Myrtle’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Myrtle. 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.