410 flood insurance claims·$7.2M paid·6 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 Yazoo 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 standard riverine floods dominate the recorded flood events in Yazoo County over the last 30 years, driven primarily by 68 flash flood events causing 1 death and 7 general flood events causing 2 deaths, alongside occasional impacts from tropical systems and hurricanes. Recent events illustrate this pattern, such as the April 2024 severe thunderstorms and heavy rain that produced widespread damage, and the storms of April 2025 that brought tornadoes, damaging winds, and flash flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in high-risk Zone A require the most attention, accounting for the vast majority of claims with 339 filings, an average payout of $26,793, and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Additional claims have occurred in shaded Zone X, unshaded Zone X, general Zone X, and unknown zones, where payouts averaged between $4,197 and $26,058 with average recorded water depths ranging from 2 to 4 inches. Homeowners and real estate professionals working with properties in designated Zone A face the highest frequency and severity of flood risks in the county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
9% of Yazoo County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
371 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 7 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 109 claims and $3.4M paid, the year of 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.
40 NOAA storm reports from Yazoo County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Mississippi flood stories →
31 federal disaster declarations since 1971, 6 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, Flooding, And Mudslides | Feb 10, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 13, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Feb 22, 2019 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
80 since 1996: 68 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 17, 2025 | $500,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 12, 2024 | $2,000 |
| Flood | Apr 10, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 10, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Jun 4, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 17, 2025. Severe storms produced damaging winds and hail across north central Mississippi.
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. On the evening of April 5th into the morning of April 6th, strong to severe storms produced tornadoes, damaging winds and flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Sep 12, 2024. Tropical Storm Francine made landfall in southern Louisiana on the evening of September 11th, 2024. The weakening storm produced strong wind damage as it moved across central Mississippi the morning of September 12th, 2024.
Flood · Apr 10, 2024. A line of severe thunderstorms produced significant wind damage, heavy rain, hail, and a tornado as it crossed from Northeast Louisiana into Mississippi during the evening of April 9th. Subsequent heavy rain and storms continued into the daytime of April 10th.
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 Yazoo 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.