978 flood insurance claims·$20.9M paid·7 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 Rankin 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 events dominates the flood risk profile in Rankin County, Mississippi, accounting for the vast majority of historical flood events over the last 30 years alongside standard river floods, tropical storms, hurricanes, and tropical depressions. Severe storms and heavy rain produced notable flooding events in January 2024 and April 2024, driven by moist air masses and training thunderstorms that brought widespread rainfall across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood impacts extend across multiple zones, with the highest claim volume concentrated in Zone A at 507 claims with an average recorded water depth of 5 inches and an average payout of $30,278. Properties located in Zone X also experience significant risk, recording 177 claims with a higher average payout of $45,820 and an average water depth of 7 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN accounts for 217 claims averaging 2 inches of recorded water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated in designated high-risk riverine areas like Zone A, as well as properties in Zone X where recorded water depths and average claim payouts have historically been highest.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
13% of Rankin County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
583 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 4 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 1983, with 193 claims and $1.7M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Flooding & Tornadoes and 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.
104 NOAA storm reports from Rankin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 7 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes. | Jun 14, 2023 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 28, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Hurricane Delta | Oct 7, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 28, 2014 |
| Hurricane Isaac | Aug 26, 2012 |
| Tropical Storm Isaac | Aug 26, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
243 since 1996: 223 flash floods and 15 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 27, 2025 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jan 24, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jan 24, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jan 24, 2024 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 12, 2024 | $2,000 |
| Flood | Apr 9, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 8, 2024 | $1,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 27, 2025. A squall line moved through Mississippi on the 27th and produced wind damage.
Flash Flood · Jun 27, 2025. Scattered afternoon storms developed each day and produced a few instances of wind damage.
Flash Flood · Jan 24, 2024. With an upper-level trough of low pressure situated over Central Plains and a very moist air mass extending north through the Mississippi River Valley, training showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rain and flooding over parts of Mississippi.
Flood · Jan 24, 2024. With an upper-level trough of low pressure situated over Central Plains and a very moist air mass extending north through the Mississippi River Valley, training showers and thunderstorms produced heavy rain and flooding over parts of Mississippi.
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 Rankin 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.