Natural hazards · Rolling Fork

Rolling Fork, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Rolling Fork comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 1993. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Rolling Fork?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Rolling Fork to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes30%Inland flooding26%Cold waves10%Heat waves7%Strong wind7%Earthquakes7%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Rolling Fork faces

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

Tornadoes

30% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

26% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesIce 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 Rolling Fork flood?

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

10paid claims since 1993

$175Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19932026

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. Rolling Fork isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Sharkey County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

7storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Rolling Fork

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Rolling ForkDeclared for Sharkey County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

522 households applied for aid $1.4M aid approved $10K to the City of Rolling Fork for repairs

2025

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

18 households applied for aid $80K aid approved

2023

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

1,161 households applied for aid $5.5M aid approved $5.5M to the City of Rolling Fork for repairs

2019

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

46 households applied for aid $256K aid approved

2011

Flooding

231 households applied for aid $38K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

$6K to the City of Rolling Fork for repairs

1998

Severe Winter Storms, Ice and Freezing Rain

$3K to the City of Rolling Fork for repairs

Sharkey County has had 20 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. Rolling Fork covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Rolling Fork’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Rolling Fork. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Rolling Fork total about $985K a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.