States › Mississippi › Forrest County

Forrest County, Mississippi

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 28035 · 77,875 residents (2021) · 466 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 178Tornado · 48Flood · 142Wind · 375Winter · 10

Forrest County within Mississippi. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

The NCEI record lists 817 events for Forrest County, Mississippi, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 175.3 events per 100 square miles, above the Mississippi figure of 89.7, and 104.9 per 10,000 residents against 142.8 statewide.

10 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 11 deaths and 199 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $822M and crop damage at $94M.

FEMA has designated the county in 32 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm (major disaster, 6 Feb 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 1,755 claims since 1978, of which 1,365 were paid, totalling $13M (about $9K per paid claim). FEMA counts 469 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($33M a year across 18 hazards).

80 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 7 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

10events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

817events since 195011 deaths, 199 injuries recorded

32disaster declarationslast 6 Feb 2026

1,755NFIP flood claims$13M paid

Compared with Mississippi and the United States

Measure	Forrest County	Mississippi	US
Recorded events since 1950	817	42,114	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	175.3	89.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	104.9	142.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	10	1,524	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	11	928	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$822M	$31B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	22.5	21.9	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$9K	$58K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	23.0	11.5	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Tornado: 1

Hail: 1Tornado: 3Wind: 6

Hail: 5Tornado: 5Wind: 11

Hail: 7Tornado: 2Wind: 10

Hail: 42Tornado: 8Flood: 5Wind: 56Lightning: 1

Hail: 80Tornado: 10Flood: 34Wind: 115Winter: 4Tropical: 9Heat: 3Drought: 4Lightning: 11Other: 4

Hail: 28Tornado: 11Flood: 78Wind: 101Winter: 4Tropical: 2Heat: 1Cold: 1Drought: 3Lightning: 13

Hail: 15Tornado: 8Flood: 25Wind: 76Winter: 2Tropical: 3Heat: 1Cold: 1Drought: 4Lightning: 1Other: 2

11950s101960s211970s191980s1121990s2742000s2422010s1382020s

Recorded events in Forrest County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 494 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 271 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind375

Hail178

Flood142

Tornado48

Lightning26

Tropical14

Drought11

Winter10

Other6

Heat5

Cold2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	375	3	2.0%	detail
■ Hail	178	—	2.1%	detail
■ Flood	142	1	3.7%	detail
■ Tornado	48	4	1.4%	detail
■ Lightning	26	2	6.6%
■ Tropical	14	—	2.5%
■ Drought	11	—	0.8%
■ Winter	10	—	0.5%	detail
■ Other	6	—	2.8%
■ Heat	5	1	0.2%
■ Cold	2	—	0.6%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
21 Jan 2017	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$9.0M	$50K	4	56	County
5 Jun 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$1.0M	—	2	45	County
11 Aug 2023	Excessive Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	2	Forecast zone
29 Jan 1999	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$500K	—	1	—	County
20 Feb 2014	Strong Wind	Wind	40 mph	$50K	—	1	—	Forecast zone
13 Jun 1996	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
20 Jul 2000	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
29 Aug 2005	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$750M	$90M	—	—	Forecast zone
10 Feb 2013	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$25M	—	—	63	County
3 Mar 2008	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$1.5M	—	—	14	County
12 Mar 2001	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$6.0M	—	—	5	County
25 Dec 2012	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$200K	—	—	4	County
7 May 1982	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	1	County
17 Oct 2007	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$100K	—	—	1	County
19 Apr 2020	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$100K	—	—	1	County
26 Oct 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	—	$50K	—	—	1	County
12 Jul 2017	Lightning	Lightning	—	$30K	—	—	1	County
13 May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	60 mph	$25K	—	—	1	County
22 Jun 2017	Strong Wind	Wind	40 mph	$3K	—	—	1	Forecast zone
24 Apr 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	$2K	—	—	1	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
6 Feb 2026	DR-4899	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
24 Jan 2026	EM-3640	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
22 Oct 2021	DR-4626	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ida	Public assistance
28 Aug 2021	EM-3569	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Ida	Public assistance
28 Oct 2020	EM-3550	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Zeta	Public assistance
8 Oct 2020	EM-3548	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Delta	Public assistance
14 Sep 2020	EM-3544	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Sally	Public assistance
23 Aug 2020	EM-3539	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Marco And Tropical Storm Laura	Public assistance
5 Apr 2020	DR-4528	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3474	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
14 Feb 2019	DR-4415	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornado	Public assistance
25 Jan 2017	DR-4295	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
25 Mar 2016	DR-4268	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Feb 2013	DR-4101	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
29 Aug 2012	DR-4081	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Isaac	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Aug 2012	EM-3348	Emergency	Hurricane	Tropical Storm Isaac	Public assistance
22 Sep 2008	DR-1794	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Gustav	Public assistance
30 Aug 2008	EM-3291	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Gustav	Public assistance
29 Aug 2005	DR-1604	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Aug 2005	EM-3213	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina	Public assistance
10 Jul 2005	DR-1594	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Dennis	Public assistance
15 Sep 2004	DR-1550	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Ivan	Public assistance
23 Feb 2001	DR-1360	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
1 Oct 1998	DR-1251	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Georges	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Sep 1998	EM-3132	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Georges	Public assistance
28 Feb 1990	DR-859	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance
16 Apr 1983	DR-678	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding & Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
19 Apr 1980	DR-618	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Storms, Flood, Mudslides & Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Sep 1979	DR-599	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Frederic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
22 Feb 1977	EM-3032	Emergency	Snowstorm	Drought & Freezing	Public assistance
18 Apr 1974	DR-430	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
18 Aug 1969	DR-271	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Camille	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Forrest County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19781,755

Paid claims1,365

Total paid$13M

Average paid claim$9K

Repetitive-loss properties9211 severe

Residential policies in force4691.8% of 25,943 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	4	3	$120,233	$40,078
2024	1	0	$0	—
2023	1	1	$25,000	$25,000
2022	21	18	$477,927	$26,552
2021	2	1	$8,631	$8,631
2020	8	4	$872,722	$218,181
2019	1	1	$5,051	$5,051
2018	55	51	$2,180,803	$42,761
2017	15	11	$288,449	$26,223
2016	57	40	$851,613	$21,290
2015	1	0	$0	—
2014	6	4	$53,041	$13,260
2013	14	5	$48,792	$9,758
2012	38	26	$324,413	$12,477
2011	6	3	$114,249	$38,083
2010	2	0	$0	—
2009	14	12	$126,554	$10,546
2008	16	13	$316,822	$24,371
2007	1	1	$909	$909
2006	1	1	$8,100	$8,100
2005	100	35	$977,563	$27,930
2004	7	6	$63,703	$10,617
2003	3	2	$20,706	$10,353
2002	1	1	$10,114	$10,114
2001	11	8	$109,707	$13,713

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Lowscore 78.1 of 100

Expected annual loss$33MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceRelatively High

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$11,094,768
Tornado	Relatively High	$7,820,992
Hurricane	Relatively Moderate	$7,091,394
Strong wind	Relatively High	$1,945,138
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,647,769
Lightning	Relatively High	$1,040,372
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$681,064
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$638,719
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$628,509
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$414,166
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$130,012
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$83,168
Drought	Relatively Low	$71,482
Landslide	Very Low	$1,328

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles80

Tracks within 50 miles28

Hurricane strength within 50 miles7

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Francine	2024	78 mi	52 mph
Claudette	2021	56 mi	40 mph
Ida	2021	99 mi	75 mph
Cristobal	2020	89 mi	40 mph
Zeta	2020	78 mi	98 mph
Olga	2019	56 mi	52 mph
Gordon	2018	29 mi	69 mph
Nate	2017	52 mi	75 mph
Lee	2011	61 mi	46 mph
Ida	2009	94 mi	52 mph
Cindy	2005	34 mi	52 mph
Dennis	2005	95 mi	52 mph
Katrina	2005	21 mi	121 mph
Ivan	2004	93 mi	81 mph
Bill	2003	82 mi	52 mph
Hanna	2002	75 mi	58 mph
Isidore	2002	77 mi	63 mph
Allison	2001	35 mi	46 mph
Georges	1998	43 mi	104 mph
Danny	1997	97 mi	81 mph
Erin	1995	47 mi	52 mph
Elena	1985	55 mi	115 mph
Bob	1979	57 mi	46 mph
Frederic	1979	52 mi	109 mph
Edith	1971	57 mi	46 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

39401 1,144
39465 432
39403 21
39425 20

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Forrest County, MS?

NCEI records 178 hail events in Forrest County since 1950, in 38 different years; that is about 2.3 recorded events a year. 44 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Forrest County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 48 tornadoes in Forrest County since 1950, 10 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 4.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Forrest County?

6 Feb 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a major disaster declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 32 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Forrest County, and how much was paid?

1,755 NFIP claims since 1978, 1,365 of them paid, for $13M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Forrest County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Low" for overall risk, "Relatively Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Moderate" for social vulnerability and "Relatively High" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Forrest County compare with the rest of Mississippi?

175.3 recorded events per 100 square miles against 89.7 statewide, and 22.5 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 21.9. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.