6 flood insurance claims·$5,025 paid·10 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 Jefferson Davis 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 events dominates the flood history of Jefferson Davis County, accounting for 42 of the last 50 recorded flood events, alongside 6 tropical storms and 2 hurricanes over the past 30 years. Recent regional weather patterns are illustrated by Tropical Storm Francine, which moved across central Mississippi on September 12, 2024, as well as a low-pressure system that brought heavy rain and widespread flooding to roads, homes, and businesses on August 24, 2022.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims have been concentrated in specific hazard areas, with Zone A recording 4 claims averaging a payout of $1,675 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone X and Zone UNKNOWN each recorded 1 claim, both with an average payout of $0 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, where historical insurance claims and water depths have been documented.
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 2 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 1990, with 2 claims and $2,806 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.
20 NOAA storm reports from Jefferson Davis County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
33 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 10 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 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes. | Jun 14, 2023 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 28, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Hurricane Delta | Oct 7, 2020 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 2020 |
| Hurricane Marco And Tropical Storm Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
50 since 1996: 42 flash floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 12, 2024 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2022 | $40,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2022 | $80,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 17, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 17, 2022 | $5,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2021 | $75,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 25, 2021 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 6, 2021 | $25,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Tropical Storm · Sep 12, 2024. Tropical Storm Francine made landfall in southern Louisiana on the evening of September 11th, 2024. The weakening storm produced strong wind damage as it moved across central Mississippi the morning of September 12th, 2024.
Flash Flood · Aug 24, 2022. A low pressure system spinning over northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas brought several rounds of showers and thunderstorms producing heavy rain to Mississippi August 24th through 25th. This resulted in widespread flooding of roads, homes, and businesses around the state.
Flash Flood · Apr 17, 2022. Several rounds of severe thunderstorms produced large hail, damaging wind gusts, and tornadoes through the day on April 17th.
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…
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 Jefferson Davis 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.