3 flood insurance claims·$8,170 paid·3 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 Chickasaw 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 driven by severe weather systems represents the primary flood hazard in Chickasaw County, accounting for the majority of recorded flood events over the last 30 years alongside general floods and tropical storms.
Recent occurrences illustrate this recurring threat. Heavy rainfall from an unstable airmass and approaching cold front triggered flash flooding across the region in March 2021. Severe weather fueled by increasing moisture advection and an upper-level system caused additional flash flooding in March 2025.
Federal insurance records reflect the localized nature of these risks. Historical National Flood Insurance Program claims include two claims in high-risk Zone A, resulting in an average payout of $4,085 and an average recorded water depth of 36 inches. One claim was recorded in moderate-to-low risk Zone X, with an average payout of $0 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Property owners located within FEMA-designated Zone A, as well as those living without a determined Base Flood Elevation, should pay the closest attention to local flood risks given the documented history of damaging high-water events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 36 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 1999, with 1 claims and $5,002 paid.
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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Chickasaw County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 28, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 12, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jan 10, 2020 |
| Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Oct 26, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 22, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 15, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
19 since 1996: 13 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 31, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 31, 2021 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2021 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jan 11, 2020 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Feb 11, 2020 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 1, 2020 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Feb 22, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Mar 15, 2025. An upper low over the Central Plains moved into the Upper Mississippi Valley during the evening hours of Friday, March 14, 2025. Increasing moisture advection ahead of an approaching cold front lifted dewpoints into the low to mid 60s. This coupled with increasing height falls and a mid-level 80 knot jet rotating around the main upper low supported severe thunderstorm development. Large looping hodographs, MLCAPE…
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 · Jun 9, 2021. An upper low continued to meander across the region on June 9, 2021. Weak upper-level disturbances rotated around the upper low and interacted with a very moist air mass across the Mid-South to produce several rounds of heavy rain across East-Central Arkansas and North Mississippi. There were several instances of flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jan 11, 2020. A cold season quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) moved across the Mid-South during the overnight and early morning hours Saturday, January 11, 2020. Strong southerly winds drew unseasonably warm, moist air northward into the region ahead of a cold front. Early morning temperatures were in the upper 60s and lower 70s with dewpoints in the upper 60s. This aided in the development of uncapped surface-based instabi…
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 Chickasaw 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.