Pearl River County, Mississippi: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Pearl River County, Mississippi has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 86.1 out of 100, higher than about 86% of US counties, with hurricanes, wildfires and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $44 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 35 federal disaster declarations that included Pearl River County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4930-MS (Tropical Storm Arthur, declared 3 August 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 55 tornadoes touching Pearl River County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Mississippi All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 56,090 Buildings worth $9.9 billion Area 828 sq mi Risk rank in Mississippi 7 of 82 FIPS 28109
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively High | 96.5 | $23 million | about once every 5.0 years | 64 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | 90.1 | $1.1 million | about once every 165 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 83.0 | $1.3 million | about 13 a year | 224 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 82.8 | $3.4 million | about once every 1.1 years | 45 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 81.7 | $579,844 | about 84 a year | 164,643 strikes |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 73.8 | $799,219 | about 2 a year | 77 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 73.2 | $11 million | about once every 1.4 years | 20 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 66.7 | $358,310 | about 2.5 a year | 96 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 65.6 | $1.3 million | about once every 1.1 years | 18 |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 65.5 | $297,097 | about 18 a year | 602 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 54.9 | $77,914 | about once every 1.3 years | 51 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 47.8 | $874 | about once every 3.8 years | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 47.1 | $42,919 | about 1.2 a year | 23 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 46.4 | $168,244 | about once every 952 years | — |
| Coastal flooding | Very Low | 30.4 | $3,817 | about once every 100 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| 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 35
Most common: Hurricane 22, Severe Storm 6, Winter Storm 2, Flood 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2 | Hurricane ×2 |
| 1970s | 4 | Hurricane, Tornado, Snowstorm, Flood |
| 1980s | 2 | Hurricane, Severe Storm |
| 1990s | 4 | Hurricane ×2, Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2000s | 10 | Hurricane ×7, Severe Storm ×3 |
| 2010s | 4 | Hurricane ×3, Flood |
| 2020s | 9 | Hurricane ×6, Winter Storm ×2, Tropical Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Pearl River 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: Tropical Storm Arthur (2026), Hurricane Ida (2021), Hurricane Zeta (2020), Hurricane Delta (2020), Hurricane Sally (2020), Hurricane Marco (2020), Hurricane Nate (2017), Hurricane Isaac (2012), Tropical Storm Isaac (2012), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Dennis (2005), Hurricane Ivan (2004), Tropical Storm Isidore (2002), Tropical Storm Allison (2001), Hurricane Georges (1998), Hurricane Elena (1985), Hurricane Frederic (1979), Hurricane Camille (1969), Hurricane Betsy (1965).
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 55
| Tornadoes touching the county | 55 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | May (9) |
| Deadliest | 19 Feb 1996, F2, 23 mi path, 0 killed, 10 injured |
| Longest path | 3 Nov 1968, F2, 43.5 mi path, 0 killed, 3 injured |
| Most recent | 1 Dec 2023, EF0, 0.3 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 45 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 19 | 24 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 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 Pearl River County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pearl River County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 86.1 | Hurricane |
| Hancock County | 40 km | Relatively Moderate | 82.7 | Hurricane |
| Washington Parish, LA | 44 km | Relatively Moderate | 85.5 | Hurricane |
| Stone County | 45 km | Relatively Low | 52.0 | Hurricane |
| St. Tammany Parish, LA | 49 km | Relatively High | 96.6 | Hurricane |
| Lamar County | 49 km | Relatively Low | 65.0 | Hurricane |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Mississippi, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 76.0 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Low 22.9 |
| Community risk factor | 1.42 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $44 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 Pearl River County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Mississippi · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- 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 Pearl River County
What natural disasters is Pearl River County, Mississippi most at risk from?
Pearl River County, Mississippi has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 86.1 out of 100, higher than about 86% of US counties, with hurricanes, wildfires and heat waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $44 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Pearl River County had?
OpenFEMA lists 35 federal disaster declarations that included Pearl River County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4930-MS (Tropical Storm Arthur, declared 3 August 2026). Another 3 Mississippi declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Pearl River County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 55 tornadoes touching Pearl River County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 19 Feb 1996, F2, 23 mi path, 0 killed, 10 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.