67 flood insurance claims·$436,268 paid·14 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 George 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 weather and tropical systems dominates the flood history of George County, Mississippi. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database records 34 flash flood events resulting in 3 deaths, alongside multiple impacts from tropical storms, hurricanes, and tropical depressions. Recent events include a flash flood driven by slow-moving storms and heavy rain on February 3, 2022, as well as significant heavy rain and tropical storm impacts from the inland passage of Hurricane Ida on August 30, 2021.
Federal flood insurance claims data shows that flood risks extend across multiple zones, with the highest concentration of historical claims occurring in high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 50 claims with an average payout of $11,157 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Additional claims are distributed across lower-risk and unmapped areas, including 7 claims in Zone X with an average payout of $16,141 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, 7 claims in Zone UNKNOWN averaging $2,569 with an average depth of 2 inches, 2 claims in Zone X_SHADED averaging $6,154 with an average depth of 1 inch, and 1 claim in Zone V averaging $4,298 with an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties located in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to these persistent flash flood and heavy rain risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of George County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
53 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 4 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 2005, with 9 claims and $47,984 paid, the year of Hurricane Dennis and Hurricane Katrina.
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.
13 NOAA storm reports from George County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
33 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 14 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 28, 2021 |
| Hurricane Zeta | Oct 28, 2020 |
| 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 22, 2020 |
| Hurricane Nate | Oct 6, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
44 since 1996: 34 flash floods and 1 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 3, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 30, 2021 | $1.8M · 3 killed |
| Flash Flood | Aug 30, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 11, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 14, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 14, 2018 | $500,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Feb 3, 2022. A very moist and unstable airmass developed ahead of an approaching cold front. Storms developed along the front and produced damaging wind gusts as they moved across southeast Mississippi. Heavy rain from slow moving storms also caused flooding in some areas.
Flash Flood · Aug 30, 2021. Hurricane Ida rapidly intensified overnight on August 28th into the morning of August 29th into strong category 4 Hurricane as it approached the northern Gulf coast. Ida made landfall across southeast Louisiana during the late morning on August 29th. Ida turned north and northeast across central Mississippi during late afternoon and evening on Monday, August 30th.||The core of the hurricane force winds was relativ…
Flash Flood · Jun 19, 2021. Potential Tropical Cyclone Claudette moved west of the Alabama coastal waters on the evening of June 18th, 2021. Claudette was declared a Tropical Storm and made landfall in southeast Louisiana during the early morning hours of June 19th. Claudette then turned northeast across southeast Mississippi and across south central Alabama during the morning on Saturday June 19th. ||Tropical Storm Claudette produced freque…
Tropical Storm · Oct 28, 2020. Hurricane Zeta made landfall in southeast Louisiana during the late afternoon hours of Wednesday, October 28th as a strong category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. Zeta quickly raced northeast and moved across inland southeast Mississippi and inland southwest Alabama during the evening hours. Shortly after midnight, Thursday, October 29th, Zeta weakened to a tropical storm while moving across…
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 George 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.