399 flood insurance claims·$5.8M paid·9 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 Lamar 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 dominates the flood character of Lamar County, accounting for 88 of the last 30 years of recorded events, alongside impacts from tropical storms and hurricanes. Recent events include Tropical Storm Francine in September 2024, which produced strong wind damage as the system moved across central Mississippi, and heavy thunderstorms in March 2024 that resulted in flash flooding. A warm, moist airmass also produced localized flash flooding with rainfall amounts between four and over five and a half inches in February 2022.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with Zone A accounting for 286 claims averaging a payout of $20,053 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone X recorded 86 claims with an average payout of $10,846 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Additionally, Zone UNKNOWN recorded 18 claims with an average payout of $7,310 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 9 claims with an average payout of $10,485 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in Zone A and Zone X should pay the most attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Lamar County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
295 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 7 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 1999, with 67 claims and $681,990 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.
51 NOAA storm reports from Lamar County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 28, 2021 |
| Hurricane Zeta | Oct 27, 2020 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 2020 |
| Hurricane Marco And Tropical Storm Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jan 20, 2017 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 9, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 10, 2013 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
104 since 1996: 88 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 12, 2024 | $45,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 8, 2024 | $3,000 |
| Flood | Mar 8, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Dec 14, 2022 | $250,000 |
| Flood | Apr 5, 2022 | $5,000 |
| Flood | Apr 5, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2022 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 3, 2022 | $3,000 |
— = 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 · Mar 8, 2024. Training of heavy thunderstorms produced flash flooding across central Mississippi and the Interstate 20 corridor.
Flood · Mar 8, 2024. Training of heavy thunderstorms produced flash flooding across central Mississippi and the Interstate 20 corridor.
Flash Flood · Dec 14, 2022. Severe thunderstorms moved across Mississippi during the evening and overnight hours of the 13th into the 14th, with flash flooding across areas of the Delta and several tornadoes. Severe storm coverage diminished during the night, but storms became severe again during the afternoon of the 14th as a cold front interacted with a warm and unstable air mass in the region. Tornadoes on the 14th were generally along an…
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 Lamar 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.