2 flood insurance claims·$46,011 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 Prentiss 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 thunderstorms dominates the flood history of Prentiss County, accounting for the vast majority of local flood events over the last 30 years compared to general floods and tropical storms.
Severe weather patterns frequently trigger sudden high water, as demonstrated by events in March 2023, May 2024, and March 2025, where upper-level lows, approaching cold fronts, and moist, unstable air masses produced heavy rainfall and localized flash flooding across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims have occurred in moderate-to-low risk areas, including Zone X with an average payout of $32,438 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches, and unshaded Zone X with an average payout of $13,574 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Homeowners and real estate agents working outside mapped high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas should pay attention to these localized flash flood risks, as intense convective storms can cause unexpected property damage in zones not traditionally associated with riverine flooding.
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 1 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Prentiss County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 2 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 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 28, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jan 10, 2020 |
| Severe Storm, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Oct 26, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 22, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Associated Flooding | Apr 15, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 25 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 15, 2025 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 24, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 2, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 30, 2020 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 13, 2020 | $2,000 |
| Flood | Feb 22, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 2, 2017 | $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 · May 24, 2024. An active storm pattern as several mid-level shortwaves crossed the region. An MCV lifted east northeast out of the Ozarks across southern Arkansas. The MCV fired up morning convection across the Mid-South with isolated storm coverage in the afternoon. A weak capped environment was broken and steep mid-level lapse rates, roughly 30 knots of shear, and plentiful instability allowed storms to flourish.
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 · Jun 2, 2021. A closed upper low was situated over Oklahoma while the warm sector destabilized across the Mid-South during the afternoon hours of June 2, 2021. A weak surface pressure trough pushing through West Tennessee and Northeast Mississippi helped to ignite slow-moving storms during the afternoon and into the evening. There were a few severe weather reports along with isolated 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 Prentiss 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.