117 flood insurance claims·$1.4M paid·5 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 Holmes 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 summer thunderstorms and tropical systems dominates the flood risk in Holmes County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 27 flash floods, alongside 2 tropical storms and 2 hurricanes. Recent events include heavy flooding from slow-moving storm systems in June 2021, and tropical storm force winds and rain brought inland by the remnants of Hurricane Ida in August 2021.
Federal flood insurance claims data shows that the highest volume of historical payouts is concentrated in Zone A, which accounts for 78 claims with an average payout of $16,038 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Properties in Zone X accounted for 11 claims with an average payout of $23,609 and an average water depth of 2 inches, while 6 claims in Zone X_UNSHADED averaged $18,484 with an average depth of 2 inches. An additional 22 claims occurred in Zone UNKNOWN, averaging $2,975 with an average water depth of 4 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents working with properties located within Zone A, as well as those in shaded and unshaded Zone X areas that have experienced significant average payouts, should pay the closest attention to flood risk in this county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
7% of Holmes County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
84 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 2001, with 36 claims and $720,708 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Tornadoes, Severe Storms and Flooding and Severe Storms, Tornadoes and 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.
11 NOAA storm reports from Holmes County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
30 federal disaster declarations since 1971, 5 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 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 12, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Mudslides | Feb 10, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 13, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 30, 2017 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
31 since 1996: 27 flash floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2021 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2021 | $350,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2021 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2021 | $4,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 21, 2019 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 21, 2019 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 21, 2019 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 21, 2019 | $120,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Aug 30, 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…
Flash Flood · Jun 10, 2021. A slow moving storm system over the central United States produced another few rounds of thunderstorms with severe weather and flooding rains. Significant flooding occurred over portions of central and northern Mississippi, with many homes and roads flooded across the region.
Flash Flood · Jul 7, 2021. A moist airmass was in place and contributed to flash flooding across the region during the afternoon hours.
Flash Flood · Apr 13, 2019. During the late afternoon of April 13 and into the evening and overnight, a strong spring storm system pushed across the Lower Mississippi Valley region and brought widespread severe weather, a regional tornado outbreak, and flash flooding. This event started over eastern Texas and steadily pushed eastward into the evening and overnight. Storms associated with this system started as a few line clusters then evolve…
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 Holmes 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.