Natural hazards · University

University, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in University comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is University?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in University to be higher than in 21% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and cold waves.

Earthquakes35%Cold waves23%Tornadoes18%Inland flooding12%Heat waves6%Everything else7%

By hazard

What University faces

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

Earthquakes

35% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Cold waves

23% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

12% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 18 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 University flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lafayette County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

6storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit University

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Lafayette County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching University itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into UniversityDeclared for Lafayette County only

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