102 flood insurance claims·$766,584 paid·4 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 Tallahatchie 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood history of Tallahatchie County, accounting for the vast majority of recorded storm events over the last 30 years alongside occasional broader floods and tropical storms. This hazard is driven by stalled weather patterns and heavy rainfall, such as an upper-level low pressure system that produced up to 4 inches of rain before sunrise on June 8, 2021, and subsequent heavy rainfall that caused significant flash flooding in the county on June 10, 2021.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that risk extends across multiple zones, with the highest concentration of payouts occurring in designated high-risk areas. Specifically, Zone A accounts for 73 claims with an average water depth of 8 inches and an average payout of $8,563. Meanwhile, Zone X properties recorded 8 claims with an average water depth of 1 inch and a higher average payout of $17,541.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, which experiences both the highest volume of flood claims and the greatest average recorded water depths. Properties in unmapped or lesser-defined zones, including the 18 claims recorded in Zone UNKNOWN, also require careful evaluation given historical payout activity.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Tallahatchie County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
75 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 6 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 1991, with 33 claims and $126,543 paid, the year of Severe Storms & Flooding and Severe Storms, Tornadoes & 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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Tallahatchie County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
27 federal disaster declarations since 1971, 4 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, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jan 10, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 22, 2019 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 9, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
20 since 1996: 17 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2021 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 10, 2021 | $1.3M |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2021 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2020 | $15,000 |
| Flood | Mar 10, 2016 | $1.0M |
| Flash Flood | Dec 25, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 23, 2009 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 18, 2009 | $60,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 10, 2021. A stubborn upper low remained stalled across the area on June 10, 2021. This feature continued to interact with a very moist air mass across the region to produce very heavy rainfall amounts across mainly North Mississippi. Significant flash flooding occurred across parts of North Mississippi, especially in Tallahatchie County.
Flash Flood · Jun 8, 2021. An upper low parked over the Mid-South resulted in widespread showers and thunderstorms across North Mississippi during the early morning hours of June 8, 2021. Some locations received up to 4 inches of rain before sunrise which set the stage for flash flooding later that morning into the afternoon as a mesoscale convective vortex pushed into the Mid-South. This feature resulted in several areas of showers and thu…
Flash Flood · Jun 9, 2020. Tropical Depression Cristobal moved through the region on June 9, 2020. This system brought some heavy rain and flash flooding to parts of the Mid-South including north Mississippi and southwest Tennessee.
Flood · Mar 10, 2016. A classic heavy rain pattern set up over the Mid-South during the period of March 9th, 2016 to March 13th, 2016. A cold front stretched from Nebraska to Texas on the morning of March 8th. The front moved southeastward and stalled across Southeast Missouri as an upper level low remained stationary over Texas. A very moist atmosphere was in place over the Mid-South south of this boundary. Several weak low pressure c…
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 Tallahatchie 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.