Natural hazards · Okolona

Okolona, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Okolona comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Okolona?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

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

Tornadoes21%Inland flooding21%Earthquakes18%Cold waves12%Strong wind12%Heat waves5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Okolona faces

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

Tornadoes

21% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 18 years in the area

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 14% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Earthquakes

18% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 17 times 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 Okolona flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Chickasaw County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

157storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Okolona

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OkolonaDeclared for Chickasaw County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

28 households applied for aid $95K aid approved

2019

Severe Storm, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$48K to the City of Okolona for repairs

2019

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

$87K to the City of Okolona for repairs

2015

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

5 households applied for aid $21K aid approved $15K to the City of Okolona for repairs

2011

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

374 households applied for aid $984K aid approved $261K to the City of Okolona for repairs

2005

Hurricane Katrina

$50K to the City of Okolona for repairs

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes and High Winds

61 households applied for aid $208K aid approved

1998

Severe Winter Storms, Ice and Freezing Rain

$3K to the City of Okolona for repairs

Chickasaw 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. Okolona 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 Okolona’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Okolona. 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.