31 flood insurance claims·$736,691 paid·2 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 Lafayette 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 driven by severe thunderstorms dominates the flood character of Lafayette County, accounting for 27 of the 31 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside 3 general floods and 1 tropical storm. Recent episodes include a flash flood on March 15, 2025, produced by an approaching cold front and severe thunderstorms, and an event on June 8, 2021, where up to 4 inches of rain fell before sunrise and set the stage for flash flooding. Additional recent events occurred on March 24, 2023, and April 16, 2022, associated with frontal boundaries, moist unstable air, and severe weather across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data show payouts across multiple zones, indicating that flood risk extends beyond designated high-risk areas. Zone X recorded 13 claims with an average payout of $18,247 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone A recorded 9 claims with an average payout of $48,257 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Zone X_UNSHADED logged 5 claims averaging $21,005 with an average water depth of 1 inch, while Zone X_SHADED recorded 2 claims averaging $8,190 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 2 claims averaging $4,018 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in both high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas like Zone A and moderate-to-low risk zones like Zone X should pay close attention to these historical flood and claim patterns.
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 2010, with 8 claims and $48,204 paid, the year of 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 Lafayette County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1971, 2 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 12, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 22, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 15, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 1, 2010 |
| Hurricane Gustav | Aug 28, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
31 since 1996: 27 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 24, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 16, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 18, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2021 | $400,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2020 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2018 | $20,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Mar 15, 2025. An upper low over the Central Plains moved into the Upper Mississippi Valley during the evening hours of Friday, March 14, 2025. Increasing moisture advection ahead of an approaching cold front lifted dewpoints into the low to mid 60s. This coupled with increasing height falls and a mid-level 80 knot jet rotating around the main upper low supported severe thunderstorm development. Large looping hodographs, MLCAPE…
Flash Flood · Mar 24, 2023. The first significant event to produce widespread severe weather across the Mid-South for 2023 occurred on March 24, during the afternoon and evening hours. This severe weather episode occurred mainly over portions of the Lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys. Surface analysis for this day depicted a quasi-stationary boundary from the Mid-Atlantic States and Ohio Valley through northern portions of West Tenness…
Flash Flood · Apr 16, 2022. A warm front lifted north during the afternoon of April 15, 2022, bringing moist and unstable air northward. A cold front then pushed across the area and interacted with that moist and unstable air resulting in severe thunderstorms that brought large hail, damaging wind, and some flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Sep 18, 2021. The remnants of Hurricane Nicholas moved across the region. Numerous showers and thunderstorms produced 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 Lafayette 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.