13 flood insurance claims·$226,736 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 Marshall 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 and slow-moving summer thunderstorms dominates the flood risk in Marshall County. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records show 21 flash flood events resulting in one death, alongside two general flood events and one tropical storm. Recent occurrences include slow-moving, heavy rain storms that caused flash flooding on July 4, 2023, and July 9, 2021, as well as severe storm development driven by an approaching cold front on March 15, 2025.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) claims data indicates that flood risks extend beyond designated high-risk areas. In high-risk Zone A, six claims recorded an average payout of $24,646 with an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. In moderate-to-low risk Zone X, six claims recorded an average payout of $26,286 with an average recorded water depth of 41 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents in both designated flood zones and lower-risk areas should pay close attention to property elevation and historical drainage patterns, as significant water depths and insurance claims occur across multiple zone classifications.
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 23 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 2011, with 3 claims and $156,756 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Associated 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Marshall County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
18 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 Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
| 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 |
| Hurricane Katrina | Aug 29, 2005 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding | Nov 24, 2001 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
24 since 1996: 21 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 15, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 21, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 4, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2021 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 31, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Mar 10, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 27, 2011 | $500,000 · 1 killed |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2010 | — |
— = 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 · Jul 21, 2023. A residual boundary left over from pre-dawn storms was located near the Tennessee/Mississippi state line during the morning hours of July 21, 2023. By early afternoon a progressive mid-level trough moved into the region on northwest flow aloft. Along and south of the boundary the airmass became strongly unstable with mixed-layer convective available potential energy values over 4000 J/kg and downdraft convective a…
Flash Flood · Jul 4, 2023. Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed along and south of I-40 due to diurnal heating during the late afternoon on July 4, 2023. Weak wind shear combined with deep moisture produced slow-moving, highly efficient rainfall-producing thunderstorms. There were several reports of flash flooding across the area.
Flash Flood · Jul 9, 2021. A weak cold front stalled across extreme northern Mississippi. Showers and thunderstorms with very heavy rain developed along this boundary. These storms were slow-moving resulting in some 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 Marshall 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.