Natural hazards · Pelahatchie

Pelahatchie, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pelahatchie comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2017. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pelahatchie?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pelahatchie to be higher than in 51% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding30%Tornadoes21%Hail14%Cold waves8%Heat waves6%Hurricanes6%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Pelahatchie faces

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

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 24% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

21% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 16 years in the area

Hail

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 73% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Lower here

Ice 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 Pelahatchie flood?

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

2paid claims since 2017

$85Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20172026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rankin County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

17storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Pelahatchie

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PelahatchieDeclared for Rankin County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

1 household applied for aid

2014

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid

2005

Hurricane Katrina

593 households applied for aid $447K aid approved $133K to the Town of Pelahatchie for repairs

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Floods

9 households applied for aid $44K aid approved

Rankin County has had 19 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. Pelahatchie 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 Pelahatchie’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Pelahatchie. 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.