Oktibbeha County, Mississippi: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Oktibbeha County, Mississippi has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 62.8 out of 100, higher than about 62% of US counties, with earthquakes, tornadoes and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $19 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 17 federal disaster declarations that included Oktibbeha County since 1979, 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 31 tornadoes touching Oktibbeha County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 51,639 Buildings worth $10 billion Area 467 sq mi Risk rank in Mississippi 27 of 82 FIPS 28105
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 85.1 | $2.3 million | about once every 353 years | — |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 83.3 | $4.0 million | about once every 2.2 years | 31 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 81.2 | $1.3 million | about 12 a year | 181 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 79.2 | $2.8 million | about 1.2 a year | 22 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 77.3 | $633,920 | about 3.5 a year | 132 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 73.8 | $473,002 | about 68 a year | 89,170 strikes |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 70.8 | $193,207 | about once every 1.1 years | 64 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 69.2 | $451,397 | about once every 15 years | 22 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 64.4 | $88,073 | about 2.9 a year | 55 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 62.6 | $653,439 | about 2.2 a year | 85 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 53.2 | $6.0 million | about 1.3 a year | 37 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 53.1 | $149,987 | about 12 a year | 371 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 46.5 | $918 | about once every 5.8 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 37.7 | $18,436 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| 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 17
Most common: Severe Storm 8, Hurricane 6, Winter Storm 2, Severe Ice Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 1990s | 2 | Severe Ice Storm, Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 6 | Hurricane ×4, Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2010s | 3 | Severe Storm ×3 |
| 2020s | 5 | Winter Storm ×2, Hurricane ×2, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Oktibbeha 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), Hurricane Ivan (2004).
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 31
| Tornadoes touching the county | 31 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×1 |
| Peak month | April (8) |
| Deadliest | 11 Mar 1963, F4, 45.2 mi path, 2 killed, 7 injured |
| Longest path | 11 Mar 1963, F4, 45.2 mi path, 2 killed, 7 injured |
| Most recent | 28 Dec 2024, EF1, 2.1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 3 / 35 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 11 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 4 |
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 Oktibbeha County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oktibbeha County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 62.8 | Earthquake |
| Clay County | 27 km | Very Low | 42.5 | Earthquake |
| Choctaw County | 35 km | Very Low | 11.5 | Strong wind |
| Winston County | 40 km | Very Low | 39.9 | Tornado |
| Lowndes County | 41 km | Relatively Low | 80.9 | Tornado |
| Webster County | 43 km | Very Low | 12.6 | Earthquake |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Mississippi, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 63.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 52.8 |
| Community risk factor | 1.25 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $19 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 Oktibbeha County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Mississippi · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- Heat wave: Heatstroke warning signs
- 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 Oktibbeha County
What natural disasters is Oktibbeha County, Mississippi most at risk from?
Oktibbeha County, Mississippi has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 62.8 out of 100, higher than about 62% of US counties, with earthquakes, tornadoes and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $19 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Oktibbeha County had?
OpenFEMA lists 17 federal disaster declarations that included Oktibbeha County since 1979, 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 Oktibbeha County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 31 tornadoes touching Oktibbeha County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 11 Mar 1963, F4, 45.2 mi path, 2 killed, 7 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.