Natural hazards · Vardaman

Vardaman, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Vardaman comes from inland flooding, 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 Vardaman?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding30%Tornadoes14%Earthquakes14%Cold waves12%Heat waves9%Drought8%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Vardaman 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

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Earthquakes

14% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 70% of U.S. places

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Vardaman flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Calhoun County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

16storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Vardaman

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into VardamanDeclared for Calhoun County only

2026

Severe Winter Storm

47 households applied for aid $272K aid approved

2011

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

$35K to the Town of Vardaman for repairs

2005

Hurricane Katrina

$5K to the Town of Vardaman for repairs

Calhoun County has had 18 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. Vardaman 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 Vardaman’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Vardaman. 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.