States › Mississippi › Sunflower County

Sunflower 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 28133 · 25,402 residents (2021) · 698 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 129Tornado · 36Flood · 46Wind · 237Winter · 32

Sunflower 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 29 Sep 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

The NCEI record lists 509 events for Sunflower County, Mississippi, between 1950 and 2026; damaging wind account for the largest share.

That is 72.9 events per 100 square miles, in line with the Mississippi figure of 89.7, and 200.4 per 10,000 residents against 142.8 statewide.

10 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 31 deaths and 352 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $28M and crop damage at $15M.

FEMA has designated the county in 22 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 191 claims since 1978, of which 156 were paid, totalling $1.7M (about $11K per paid claim). FEMA counts 116 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" ($18M a year across 18 hazards).

19 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

10events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

509events since 195031 deaths, 352 injuries recorded

22disaster declarationslast 6 Feb 2026

191NFIP flood claims$1.7M paid

Compared with Mississippi and the United States

Measure	Sunflower County	Mississippi	US
Recorded events since 1950	509	42,114	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	72.9	89.7	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	200.4	142.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	10	1,524	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	31	928	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$28M	$31B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	7.5	21.9	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$11K	$58K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	22.4	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: 2

Hail: 3Tornado: 3

Hail: 9Tornado: 4Wind: 16

Hail: 10Tornado: 3Wind: 15

Hail: 33Tornado: 6Flood: 1Wind: 45Winter: 2

Hail: 43Tornado: 11Flood: 16Wind: 52Winter: 9Tropical: 2Heat: 5Drought: 1Lightning: 1

Hail: 25Tornado: 5Flood: 24Wind: 71Winter: 11Heat: 1Cold: 2Drought: 8Lightning: 1Other: 3

Hail: 6Tornado: 2Flood: 5Wind: 38Winter: 10Cold: 1Drought: 4

21950s61960s291970s281980s871990s1402000s1512010s662020s

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

Trend: 279 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 169 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

Wind237

Hail129

Flood46

Tornado36

Winter32

Drought13

Heat6

Cold3

Other3

Tropical2

Lightning2

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	237	—	1.3%	detail
■ Hail	129	—	1.5%	detail
■ Flood	46	—	1.2%	detail
■ Tornado	36	28	1.0%	detail
■ Winter	32	1	1.7%	detail
■ Drought	13	—	0.9%
■ Heat	6	1	0.2%
■ Cold	3	1	0.9%
■ Other	3	—	1.4%
■ Tropical	2	—	0.4%
■ Lightning	2	—	0.5%

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 Feb 1971	Tornado	Tornado	F5	$2.5M	—	25	342	County
21 Feb 1971	Tornado	Tornado	F3	—	—	3	—	County
17 Jul 2000	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
8 Jan 2017	Cold/Wind Chill	Cold	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
14 Jan 2024	Winter Storm	Winter	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
26 Apr 2011	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$300K	—	—	3	County
19 Nov 1988	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	3	County
3 Apr 1956	Tornado	Tornado	F2	—	—	—	2	County
12 Apr 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	60 mph	$20K	—	—	1	County
9 May 1989	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	—	1	County
29 Aug 2005	Hurricane (Typhoon)	Tropical	—	$500K	$5.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
9 Mar 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	92 mph	$5.0M	—	—	—	County
7 Apr 2006	Hail	Hail	2.50 in	$1.2M	$2.0M	—	—	County
26 Nov 1988	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$2.5M	—	—	—	County
1 Oct 2006	Drought	Drought	—	—	$2.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
7 Apr 2006	Hail	Hail	2.00 in	$700K	$1.0M	—	—	County
23 Dec 1998	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$1.5M	—	—	—	Forecast zone
1 Oct 2023	Drought	Drought	—	—	$1.0M	—	—	Forecast zone
18 Sep 2009	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$600K	$300K	—	—	County
13 Oct 2009	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$500K	$300K	—	—	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	Individual assistance, 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
16 Apr 2020	DR-4536	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	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
12 Mar 2020	DR-4478	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Public assistance
23 Apr 2019	DR-4429	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Public assistance
25 Mar 2016	DR-4268	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
29 Apr 2011	DR-1972	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Associated Flooding	Individual assistance
30 Aug 2008	EM-3291	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Gustav	Public assistance
29 Aug 2005	DR-1604	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina	Public assistance
7 Dec 2001	DR-1398	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
23 Feb 2001	DR-1360	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance
25 Jan 1999	DR-1265	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms, Ice And Freezing Rain	Public assistance
18 Feb 1994	DR-1009	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm, Freeezing Rain And Sleet	Public assistance
17 May 1991	DR-906	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
5 Mar 1991	DR-895	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
22 Feb 1977	EM-3032	Emergency	Snowstorm	Drought & Freezing	Public assistance
27 Mar 1973	DR-368	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Heavy Rains, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
22 Feb 1971	DR-302	Major disaster	Tornado	Storms & Tornadoes	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 Sunflower County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978191

Paid claims156

Total paid$1.7M

Average paid claim$11K

Repetitive-loss properties203 severe

Residential policies in force1161.4% of 8,533 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2025	1	0	$0	—
2023	1	1	$3,913	$3,913
2021	9	9	$486,195	$54,022
2019	12	10	$152,176	$15,218
2018	2	2	$36,922	$18,461
2017	1	0	$0	—
2016	10	9	$138,393	$15,377
2011	2	1	$945	$945
2009	1	1	$20,525	$20,525
2008	1	0	$0	—
2006	1	1	$9,453	$9,453
2005	5	0	$0	—
2003	1	1	$403	$403
2002	3	2	$7,183	$3,591
2001	6	4	$40,796	$10,199
2000	8	3	$18,283	$6,094
1998	4	4	$35,953	$8,988
1997	1	1	$14,500	$14,500
1996	2	2	$14,852	$7,426
1995	3	3	$15,305	$5,102
1994	7	7	$74,978	$10,711
1993	2	1	$2,056	$2,056
1992	1	1	$7,000	$7,000
1991	32	28	$285,374	$10,192
1989	1	1	$2,187	$2,187

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 69.6 of 100

Expected annual loss$18MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityVery High

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Cold wave	Relatively High	$5,008,515
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$4,863,753
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$2,644,986
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$1,768,699
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$962,126
Heat wave	Relatively Low	$864,430
Hurricane	Relatively Low	$529,458
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$519,817
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$475,588
Lightning	Relatively Low	$157,837
Ice storm	Relatively Moderate	$119,480
Winter weather	Very Low	$8,306
Wildfire	Very Low	$4,534
Landslide	Very Low	$88

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 miles19

Tracks within 50 miles8

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Ida	2021	97 mi	40 mph
Delta	2020	89 mi	40 mph
Camille	1969	32 mi	58 mph
Betsy	1965	88 mi	40 mph
Audrey	1957	41 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1934	27 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	50 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1932	27 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1923	35 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1923	99 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1916	27 mi	52 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1909	59 mi	63 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1906	57 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1905	55 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1891	98 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1888	30 mi	69 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1881	96 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1879	93 mi	58 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1860	35 mi	58 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

38737 50
38751 45
38771 37
38761 18
38738 6
38778 6
38736 5

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 Sunflower County, MS?

NCEI records 129 hail events in Sunflower County since 1950, in 45 different years; that is about 1.7 recorded events a year. 35 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Sunflower County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 36 tornadoes in Sunflower County since 1950, 12 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 28.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Sunflower County?

6 Feb 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a major disaster declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 22 declarations since 1953.

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

191 NFIP claims since 1978, 156 of them paid, for $1.7M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Sunflower 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, "Very High" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Low" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Sunflower County compare with the rest of Mississippi?

72.9 recorded events per 100 square miles against 89.7 statewide, and 7.5 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 29 Sep 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 30 Sep 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.