Natural hazards · Rienzi

Rienzi, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rienzi comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is moderate 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 Rienzi?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rienzi to be higher than in 45% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes28%Inland flooding26%Cold waves20%Earthquakes12%Heat waves6%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Rienzi faces

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

Tornadoes

28% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 13 years in the area

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

20% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Earthquakes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 15 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 Rienzi flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Alcorn County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

54storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Rienzi

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into RienziDeclared for Alcorn County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

337 households applied for aid $702K aid approved $16K to the Town of Rienzi for repairs

2011

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

28 households applied for aid $67K aid approved

2010

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

10 households applied for aid $8K aid approved

Alcorn 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. Rienzi 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 Rienzi’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Rienzi. 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.