212 flood insurance claims·$4.3M paid·5 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 Mississippi County, Missouri. 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.
River overflow along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers dominates the flood character of Mississippi County, Missouri, accounting for 37 flood events compared to 10 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Prolonged river flooding is frequently driven by heavy regional rainfall, as demonstrated by events in February 2019, February 2025, and May 2024, which caused minor to moderate flooding of bottomlands and low-lying areas along the Mississippi River.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties located within Zone A face the highest risk and severity, accounting for 157 claims with an average payout of $34,579 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. By contrast, Zone UNKNOWN recorded 43 claims with an average payout of $3,204 and an average water depth of 2 inches, while Zone X and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded minimal claim activity with average payouts below $8,000 and average water depths of 1 to 2 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties situated in Zone A and low-lying areas near the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, where historical river overflow events have concentrated the highest flood insurance claim frequencies and financial losses.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Mississippi County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
163 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 2011, with 119 claims and $4.0M paid, the year of Severe Winter Storm 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.
20 NOAA storm reports from Mississippi County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
25 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 30, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Jul 29, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 29, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 11, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | Apr 28, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 23, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
47 since 1996: 10 flash floods and 37 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Feb 16, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 11, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 10, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jun 2, 2019 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Mar 1, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Feb 24, 2018 | — |
| Flood | May 17, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Feb 16, 2025. Heavy rain (3-7) over the lower Ohio and Tennessee Valleys on February 15th resulted in rising river levels on Mississippi River, with prolonged minor flooding in Mississippi County across from Hickman Kentucky. Minor flooding continued into early March.
Flood · Mar 1, 2025. A prolonged flooding event on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, that began in the middle of February, continued into March at Hickman Kentucky. Minor flooding of bottomland continued in Mississippi County. Heavy rainfall in the middle of February was the cause of rising river levels which lowered just below flood stage on the 1st.
Flood · May 11, 2024. Heavy rainfall in early May, culminating in the May 8th severe weather and flooding event, resulted in rising river on the Mississippi River, with Thebes returning to minor flood and Hickman reaching minor flood in the following days. Minor flooding in Southeast Missouri around these river sites lasted roughly a week in both areas with impacts limited to low-lying areas.
Flood · Feb 10, 2019. Moderate flooding developed on the Mississippi River below the Ohio River confluence. After a wet January, the active weather pattern continued into February. Frequent moderate to heavy rain events pushed the rivers higher. February was one of the wettest Februarys on record in the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys. The monthly rainfall total at Paducah, Kentucky was 10.42 inches. All of this heavy rainfall in the…
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 Mississippi 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.