6 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 Kemper 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 storms and heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk in Kemper County, supported by 19 flash flood events alongside four tropical storms and three hurricanes over the last 30 years according to the NOAA Storm Events Database.
Recent history illustrates this heavy rain threat. A significant flash flood event occurred on July 13, 2023, when a corridor of 6 to 9 inches of rain fell across the region, resulting in flooded roads, washed-out infrastructure, and flooded structures. Earlier, heavy rainfall from a low-pressure system brought showers and thunderstorms on August 24, 2022, causing widespread flooding of roads, homes, and businesses across the state. Severe thunderstorms overnight on March 14 into March 15, 2025, also produced flash flooding as a squall line moved through the area.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in known flash flood-prone areas, near low-water crossings, or within designated flood zones where intense rainfall can rapidly overwhelm local drainage and cause structural inundation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
16 NOAA storm reports from Kemper County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 28, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 13, 2019 |
| Hurricane Isaac | Aug 26, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 15, 2011 |
| Hurricane Gustav | Aug 28, 2008 |
| Hurricane Katrina | Aug 29, 2005 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
26 since 1996: 19 flash floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 15, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 13, 2023 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 30, 2021 | $5,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2021 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 10, 2020 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 7, 2014 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Mar 15, 2025. Isolated severe thunderstorms developed across portions of Mississippi in the overnight hours of March 14th. Coverage of severe storms increased into the morning of the 15th before a squall line developed and moved across the area.
Flash Flood · Jul 13, 2023. A significant flash flood event unfolded during the early morning hours of July 13th into the late morning and midday. A corridor of 6 to 9 inches fell, with locally higher amounts, roughly from Ackerman to Louisville to DeKalb MS. Some of the most impacted areas were across Choctaw and Winston Counties. Multiple roads were flooded, washed out or closed. Many structures were flooded as well along with stalled or s…
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 · 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 Kemper 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.