187 flood insurance claims·$1.4M paid·10 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Adams County, Mississippi. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk in Adams County, Mississippi, accounting for 41 out of 52 total flood events recorded over the last 30 years, alongside impacts from tropical storms and hurricanes. Recent weather history includes a line of slow-moving thunderstorms that caused flooding on August 18, 2022, and severe thunderstorms that produced flash flooding on December 14, 2022. Major hurricane Ida also impacted the region as a tropical storm on August 29, 2021, bringing tropical storm-force gusts that downed trees and power lines.
National Flood Insurance Program records show varying impacts across different zones. Zone A accounts for the highest claim volume with 127 claims averaging an $8,708 payout and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone X properties experienced fewer claims—totaling 24—but incurred higher averages, with an average payout of $27,537 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 31 claims averaging $5,774 with an average water depth of 6 inches, while Zone X_SHADED and Zone X_UNSHADED reported minimal claims with lower averages. Homeowners in Zone A and Zone X should pay the most attention to this flood risk due to the frequency of high-claim volumes and significant average water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Adams County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
132 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 7 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1979, with 55 claims and $395,999 paid, the year of Storms, Tornadoes, Floods.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
23 NOAA storm reports from Adams County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
27 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 10 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes. | Jun 14, 2023 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 28, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Hurricane Delta | Oct 7, 2020 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 2020 |
| Hurricane Marco And Tropical Storm Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 30, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
52 since 1996: 41 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Oct 26, 2025 | $2,000 · 1 killed |
| Flash Flood | Aug 18, 2022 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Dec 14, 2022 | $5,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 29, 2021 | $75,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 17, 2021 | $25,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2020 | $40,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 23, 2020 | $5,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2020 | $300,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Oct 26, 2025. A line of thunderstorms formed west of the area and moved across Mississippi early in the morning. Some of these thunderstorms produced damaging wind gusts and heavy rainfall.
Flash Flood · Aug 18, 2022. A line of slow moving showers and thunderstorms developed over portions of Mississippi in the early morning of August 18th. Training of these thunderstorms led to some flooding.
Flash Flood · Dec 14, 2022. Severe thunderstorms moved across Mississippi during the evening and overnight hours of the 13th into the 14th, with flash flooding across areas of the Delta and several tornadoes. Severe storm coverage diminished during the night, but storms became severe again during the afternoon of the 14th as a cold front interacted with a warm and unstable air mass in the region. Tornadoes on the 14th were generally along an…
Tropical Storm · Aug 29, 2021. Major hurricane Ida made landfall as a strong category four hurricane around 11:55am on August 29 near Grand Isle, LA. It then moved very slowly north through south central Louisiana and into Mississippi on August 30. It then turned northeast and moved across the Jackson metro area as a tropical storm and into northeast Mississippi as a tropical depression through the early morning of August 31. Ida brought tropic…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Adams County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.