233 flood insurance claims·$2.8M paid·8 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 Walthall 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 and tropical weather systems dominate the flood risk profile in Walthall County, Mississippi, which recorded eight flash flood events, four tropical storms, three hurricanes, and one tropical depression over the last 30 years.
Major regional storms have repeatedly impacted the area, including Hurricane Ida in August 2021 and Tropical Storms Delta and Zeta in October 2020. These systems bring widespread heavy rainfall and significant flooding to the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that flood impacts extend across multiple zones. Properties in high-risk Zone A account for the majority of historical claims with 158 filings averaging $17,690 and 13 inches of recorded water depth. However, moderate-to-low risk Zone X properties have also experienced losses, logging 40 claims with an average payout of $12,853 and an average recorded water depth of 17 inches, alongside 35 claims in unknown zones averaging $10,240 and 5 inches of water depth. Homeowners in both mapped high-risk flood zones and lower-risk Zone X areas should pay close attention to this flood exposure.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Walthall County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
158 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 12 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 1994, with 30 claims and $332,713 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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Walthall County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
29 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 8 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 Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Hurricane Delta | Oct 7, 2020 |
| Hurricane Sally | Sep 14, 2020 |
| Hurricane Marco And Tropical Storm Laura | Aug 23, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 12, 2020 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
16 since 1996: 8 flash floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Aug 29, 2021 | $1.0M |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | $100,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2020 | $500,000 |
| Flash Flood | Dec 27, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 10, 2016 | $1.0M |
| Flash Flood | Aug 29, 2012 | $250,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 28, 2012 | $250,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 28, 2009 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 29, 2021. The ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, Ida originated from a tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea on August 23rd. On August 26th, the wave developed into a tropical depression, which organized further and became Tropical Storm Ida later that day, near Grand Cayman. On a northwestward track, Ida intensified into a hurricane on August 27, just before…
Tropical Storm · Oct 28, 2020. A tropical depression formed in the northwestern Caribbean on the afternoon of October 24th. 9 hours later, it became the twenty-seventh named storm and eleventh hurricane of the exceptionally active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. After meandering virtually in the same place, it finally began moving northwest and slowly strengthening before making its first landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula on October 26th. Zeta…
Tropical Storm · Oct 9, 2020. Delta first developed into a tropical depression in the Caribbean just south of Jamaica on the afternoon of October 4th. As it tracked across the western Caribbean, it rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane. In fact, intensifying from tropical depression to Category strength in 40 hours is the fastest rate of intensification of any storm on record in the Atlantic Basin. Delta quickly weakened to a categor…
Flash Flood · Dec 27, 2018. Strong low pressure moving through the Southern Plains produced widespread heavy rainfall during the 27th and 28th. Several reports of significant flooding were received from southwest Mississippi during the overnight hours.
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 Walthall 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.