Natural hazards · Wiggins

Wiggins, MS natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Wiggins comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 1983. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Wiggins?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Wiggins to be higher than in 84% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes.

Hurricanes63%Inland flooding14%Tornadoes10%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Wiggins faces

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

Hurricanes

63% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

14% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 15% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 97 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Wiggins flood?

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

1paid claims since 1983

$7Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19832026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Stone County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

11storm safe rooms built

1buildings retrofitted against wind

Disasters that hit Wiggins

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WigginsDeclared for Stone County only

2026

Tropical Storm Arthur

738 households applied for aid $2.3M aid approved

2021

Hurricane Ida

$7K to the City of Wiggins for repairs

2020

Hurricane Zeta

442 households applied for aid $734K aid approved

2012

Hurricane Isaac

311 households applied for aid $226K aid approved $28K to the City of Wiggins for repairs

2008

Hurricane Gustav

$12K to the City of Wiggins for repairs

2005

Hurricane Katrina

3,617 households applied for aid $6.6M aid approved $5.7M to the City of Wiggins for repairs

2005

Hurricane Dennis

$4K to the City of Wiggins for repairs

2004

Hurricane Ivan

293 households applied for aid $176K aid approved $19K to the City of Wiggins for repairs

Stone County has had 21 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and winter 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. Wiggins covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Wiggins’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Wiggins. 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 Wiggins total about $3.0M 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.