Natural hazards · Porterville

Porterville, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Porterville comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Porterville?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Porterville to be higher than in 50% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes25%Inland flooding20%Cold waves16%Strong wind8%Hurricanes6%Earthquakes6%Everything else19%

By hazard

What Porterville faces

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

Tornadoes

25% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Inland flooding

20% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 25% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Earthquakes

6% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesLightning

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 Porterville flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Kemper County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Porterville

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PortervilleDeclared for Kemper County only

2011

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

21 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

204 households applied for aid $240K aid approved

2004

Hurricane Ivan

1 household applied for aid $3K aid approved

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Floods

2 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

Kemper County has had 17 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. Porterville 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 Porterville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Porterville. 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.