Chickasaw County, Mississippi: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Chickasaw County, Mississippi has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 43.9 out of 100, higher than about 43% of US counties, with strong winds, earthquakes and drought scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $9.6 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 21 federal disaster declarations that included Chickasaw County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4899-MS (Severe Winter Storm, declared 6 February 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 30 tornadoes touching Chickasaw County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 17,023 Buildings worth $4.0 billion Area 509 sq mi Risk rank in Mississippi 49 of 82 FIPS 28017
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 86.7 | $1.2 million | about 2 a year | 76 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 81.5 | $1.3 million | about once every 282 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 78.3 | $577,786 | about 15 a year | 476 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 72.6 | $1.9 million | about once every 2.4 years | 26 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 67.5 | $326,655 | about once every 17 years | 14 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 66.5 | $539,462 | about 17 a year | 275 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 66.0 | $1.2 million | about 1.1 a year | 21 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 55.5 | $196,650 | about 66 a year | 56,986 strikes |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 50.6 | $60,535 | about once a year | 65 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 37.8 | $114,698 | about 3.4 a year | 127 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 34.2 | $293 | about once every 4.5 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 30.9 | $10,295 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 26.5 | $2.1 million | about once every 2.2 years | 13 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 10.3 | $5,414 | about 3.8 a year | 72 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 21
Most common: Severe Storm 11, Hurricane 5, Winter Storm 2, Severe Ice Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Snowstorm, Severe Storm |
| 1990s | 4 | Severe Storm ×2, Severe Ice Storm, Tornado |
| 2000s | 5 | Hurricane ×3, Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2010s | 4 | Severe Storm ×4 |
| 2020s | 6 | Winter Storm ×2, Hurricane ×2, Severe Storm ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Chickasaw County
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, DR-4899-MS): 82 Mississippi counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3640-MS): 82 Mississippi counties designated.
- Hurricane Ida (2021, DR-4626-MS): 82 Mississippi counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Ida (2021), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Dennis (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Mississippi also had 3 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 30
| Tornadoes touching the county | 30 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×4 |
| Peak month | March (6) |
| Deadliest | 27 Apr 2011, EF3, 51.5 mi path, 4 killed, 25 injured |
| Longest path | 27 Apr 2011, EF3, 58.7 mi path, 0 killed, 25 injured |
| Most recent | 7 Jun 2025, EF1, 3.9 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 8 / 116 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 8 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Chickasaw County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chickasaw County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 43.9 | Strong wind |
| Clay County | 33 km | Very Low | 42.5 | Earthquake |
| Pontotoc County | 35 km | Relatively Low | 50.1 | Earthquake |
| Calhoun County | 36 km | Very Low | 27.7 | Earthquake |
| Monroe County | 43 km | Relatively Low | 68.5 | Cold wave |
| Webster County | 46 km | Very Low | 12.6 | Earthquake |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Mississippi, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 85.0 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 39.2 |
| Community risk factor | 1.51 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $9.6 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Chickasaw County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Mississippi · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Drought: Drought monitor for Mississippi
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Chickasaw County
What natural disasters is Chickasaw County, Mississippi most at risk from?
Chickasaw County, Mississippi has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 43.9 out of 100, higher than about 43% of US counties, with strong winds, earthquakes and drought scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $9.6 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Chickasaw County had?
OpenFEMA lists 21 federal disaster declarations that included Chickasaw County since 1973, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4899-MS (Severe Winter Storm, declared 6 February 2026). Another 3 Mississippi declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Chickasaw County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 30 tornadoes touching Chickasaw County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 27 Apr 2011, EF3, 51.5 mi path, 4 killed, 25 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.