38 flood insurance claims·$807,240 paid·4 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 Calhoun 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 and heavy rainfall events from slow-moving thunderstorms dominate the flood history of Calhoun County. Over a thirty-year period, NOAA records document 22 flash flood events, alongside 4 general flood events and 2 tropical storm events.
Recent occurrences illustrate this pattern. In April 2024, slow-moving thunderstorms moved across an area already saturated from previous rains, resulting in flash flooding. A similar dynamic occurred in April 2022, when a cold front interacting with moist, unstable air produced severe thunderstorms and flash flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property owners in Zone A should pay the most attention to flood risks, accounting for 26 total claims with an average payout of $21,531 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Additional claims are recorded in Zone X, Zone X Unshaded, and unknown zones, with Zone X recording an average payout of $73,917 across 4 claims with an average water depth of 1 inch.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
10% of Calhoun County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
29 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 5 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 1991, with 7 claims and $25,329 paid, the year of Severe Storms & Flooding and Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding.
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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Calhoun County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 28, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 12, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 22, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 30, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 15, 2011 |
| Hurricane Gustav | Aug 28, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 22 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 10, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 16, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 31, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 29, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Feb 26, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Feb 22, 2019 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 20, 2019 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Feb 20, 2019 | $2,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 10, 2024. Moisture advecting northward ahead of a surface low over the Lower Mississippi Valley fed showers and thunderstorms across northern Mississippi. These slow-moving thunderstorms moved across an area already saturated from previous rains. As a result, flash flooding occurred across northeast Mississippi.
Flash Flood · Apr 16, 2022. A warm front lifted north during the afternoon of April 15, 2022, bringing moist and unstable air northward. A cold front then pushed across the area and interacted with that moist and unstable air resulting in severe thunderstorms that brought large hail, damaging wind, and some flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Mar 31, 2021. A cold front pushed into a moist and unstable airmass resulting in numerous showers and thunderstorms across West Tennesee and North Mississippi during the early morning hours of March 31st. Heavy rainfall resulted in flash flooding while a few severe storms produced damaging winds and a couple of weak tornado across Northeast Mississippi.
Flash Flood · Dec 29, 2021. A surface low traveled along a stalled cold front that caused thunderstorms and flash flooding across north Mississippi and west Tennessee.
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 Calhoun 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.