9,927 flood insurance claims·$726.2M paid·12 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 Hancock 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 heavy rain and severe weather dominates the flood character of Hancock County, with NOAA records documenting 19 flash flood events alongside events driven by tropical storms, storm surges, and general flooding over the last 30 years. Recent impacts are exemplified by Hurricane Francine in September 2024, which brought a 4-to-6-foot storm surge that inundated low-lying coastal areas and heavy rain that flooded roads, as well as persistent elevated winds and rising tides in June 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with Zone A recording the highest volume at 7,203 claims with an average payout of $74,536 and an average recorded water depth of 42 inches. Properties outside designated high-risk areas also face significant risk, as demonstrated by claims in Zone X_SHADED, which averaged 56 inches of recorded water depth and $129,623 per payout, and Zone V, which averaged 56 inches of recorded water depth.
Coastal property owners, residents in low-lying areas vulnerable to storm surge, and homeowners in shaded or unshaded Zone X areas should pay close attention to flood risks given the high average water depths and payouts recorded outside primary flood zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
15% of Hancock County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
9,080 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 45 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 5,305 claims and $684.5M 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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Hancock County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
32 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 12 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 8, 2024 |
| 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 |
| Hurricane Nate | Oct 6, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 19 flash floods, 3 river or area floods and 4 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Storm Surge/Tide | Jun 16, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2024 | $5,000 |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Sep 11, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 15, 2021 | — |
| Flood | May 12, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 12, 2019 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Storm Surge/Tide · Jun 16, 2024. As a surface ridge nearby shifted off to the northeast during the 3rd weekend of June, light and variable winds became onshore and more steady state. By June 16th, the surface ridge shifted offshore into the Atlantic Ocean and a surface low pressure was developing as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula. It was at this point that east to southeast winds increased to 15-20 knots across local coastal waters and didn't l…
Tropical Storm · Sep 11, 2024. Hurricane Francine formed as a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico on September 9, 2024, and intensified into a Category 2 hurricane before making landfall near Houma, Louisiana, on the morning of September 11. Coastal counties of Mississippi experienced sustained tropical storm force winds and gusts which caused mostly minor damage to some homes and powerlines. A storm surge of 4-6 feet inundated low-lying coas…
Storm Surge/Tide · Sep 11, 2024. Hurricane Francine formed as a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico on September 9, 2024, and intensified into a Category 2 hurricane before making landfall near Houma, Louisiana, on the morning of September 11. Coastal counties of Mississippi experienced sustained tropical storm force winds and gusts which caused mostly minor damage to some homes and powerlines. A storm surge of 4-6 feet inundated low-lying coas…
Flash Flood · Apr 15, 2021. A line of thunderstorms moving along a stalled frontal boundary draped across the coastal waters produced heavy rainfall resulting in flash flooding.
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 Hancock 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.