County Hazards

States › Mississippi › 1997

Mississippi, 1997

The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.

770events recorded694 in 1996
2deaths recorded37 injuries
$41Mproperty damage (estimates)$35K crop damage
1disaster declarations938 NFIP claims, $11M paid
← 19961998 →

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.

Events by hazard

Wind392
Hail247
Flood63
Tornado35
Winter16
Lightning12
Tropical3
Other2

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 1997 was 770 against 694 in 1996.

Counties with the most recorded events

CountyEvents in 1997
Lee County32
Rankin County26
Hinds County25
Yazoo County19
Marion County18
Itawamba County16
Montgomery County16
Washington County16
Chickasaw County15
Harrison County15
Pearl River County15
Carroll County14
Lamar County14
Warren County14
Forrest County13
Leake County13
Perry County13
Webster County13
Jones County12
Neshoba County12
Scott County12
Simpson County12
Wayne County12
Bolivar County11
Calhoun County11

Notable events

DateCountyEvent typeMagnitudeProperty damageDeathsInjuries
1 Mar 1997PontotocTornadoF1$100,00014
17 Jun 1997WalthallThunderstorm Wind—$10,0001—
1 Mar 1997UnionTornadoF3$250,000—16
25 Oct 1997GeorgeTornadoF1$90,000—7
21 Nov 1997Pearl RiverTornadoF1$700,000—2
15 Jan 1997LamarTornadoF1$100,000—2
18 Jun 1997MarionFlash Flood—$15,000,000——
21 Feb 1997ScottTornadoF2$150,000—1
1 Mar 1997CalhounTornadoF3$10,000—1
25 Oct 1997ItawambaThunderstorm Wind—$10,000—1
20 Aug 1997MonroeThunderstorm Wind—$5,000—1
29 Jun 1997HindsLightning———1
10 Jun 1997HolmesFlash Flood—$10,000,000——
25 Oct 1997LamarLightning———1
10 Mar 1997WarrenFlood—$3,700,000——
21 Feb 1997LeakeTornadoF2$1,500,000——
9 Mar 1997WashingtonFlood—$1,400,000——
9 Mar 1997BolivarFlood—$1,400,000——
1 Mar 1997PontotocTornadoF3$650,000——
25 Oct 1997LeeHail2.75 in$600,000——
25 Oct 1997YalobushaHail1.00 in$500,000——
9 Mar 1997IssaquenaFlood—$500,000——
10 Jun 1997MadisonFlash Flood—$300,000——
10 Mar 1997JeffersonFlood—$200,000——
2 May 1997HolmesTornadoF3$200,000——
25 Oct 1997ItawambaHail2.75 in$100,000——
22 Apr 1997RankinThunderstorm Wind—$100,000——
22 Apr 1997LincolnLightning—$100,000——
28 May 1997ForrestHail1.75 in$100,000——
2 May 1997HumphreysThunderstorm Wind90 mph$100,000——
2 May 1997HumphreysHail2.75 in$100,000——
19 May 1997HancockFlash Flood—$100,000——
10 Mar 1997ClaiborneFlood—$100,000——
25 Oct 1997PrentissHail2.75 in$100,000——
25 Oct 1997HancockTornadoF1$75,000——
24 Oct 1997NewtonThunderstorm Wind—$60,000——
25 Oct 1997Pearl RiverTornadoF1$60,000——
9 Jul 1997LafayetteLightning—$50,000——
31 Aug 1997SmithThunderstorm Wind—$50,000——
17 Jun 1997WarrenThunderstorm Wind—$50,000——

Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.

Federal disaster declarations in 1997

DeclaredNumberTypeIncidentTitleCounties
13 Jun 1997DR-1178Major disasterFloodFlooding4

Flood insurance claims with a 1997 date of loss

938 NFIP claims, 807 of them paid, for $11,449,383.

Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (29 Sep 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 30 Sep 2026.