FEMA Records
33
Very high volume
Mississippi · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Jones County, MS
33 FEMA disaster declarations (1969-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 33
- FEMA declarations
- 22
- Major disasters
- 80
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Jones County. Its 33 FEMA declarations are 27% above the Mississippi county mean and exceed the count for 91% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 20%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 20%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 33
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 248
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 28067 · Jones County 33 declarations · rank 265/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 33
- MAJOR-MID 67%
- RANK-UPPER #265
- PHOTO-FINISH Nelson
- NRI-LOW 80
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
- VS-ST-ABOVE +27%
Nearest declaration peer: Nelson, ND (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Mississippi state profile
Jones County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Jones County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Garvin · near 33
Garvin · near
33 declarations
- Jones · this county 33
Jones · this county
33 declarations
- Monterey · near 33
Monterey · near
33 declarations
- Nelson · near 33
Nelson · near
33 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Jones County carries 33 FEMA declaration records, ranked 265 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Jones County ranks in the national declaration registry
Jones County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Jones County
33 Top 9% higher than 91% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Jones County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Jones County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $10.3M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Tornado carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Jones County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 248 paid claims, totaling $2.5M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $9.9K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Jones County's 33 federal records stand 27% above the Mississippi county mean of 25.9. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 80.2/100 (Relatively Low). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $31.5M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Tornado stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 1 years here, based on 73 historical events on record.
75 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Jones County, MS · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) Very High
24/30
33 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.6x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
16/25
33 declarations (1.3x state county average of 26)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
22 of 33 declarations are major disasters (67%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Jones County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Jones County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
67%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
80
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Jones County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 6 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 3 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 11 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 77 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.8 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 730 years |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 515 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 3.1 times per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 11 modeled event-days per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 16
Severe Storm 9
Winter Storm 2
Biological 2
Flood 2
Snowstorm 1
Tornado 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Jones County's federal record, 48% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 22 66.7%
of all 33 declarations
Emergency - 11 33.3%
of all 33 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 6 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 3 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
Show 8 earlier declaration years
| 1990 | 1 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 33 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 33 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4899 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Winter Storm | 2026-02-06 |
| 3640 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 4727 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES. | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-08-12 |
| 4626 | HURRICANE IDA | DR | Hurricane | 2021-10-22 |
| 3569 | HURRICANE IDA | EM | Hurricane | 2021-08-28 |
| 3550 | HURRICANE ZETA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-10-28 |
| 3544 | HURRICANE SALLY | EM | Hurricane | 2020-09-14 |
| 3539 | HURRICANE MARCO AND TROPICAL STORM LAURA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-23 |
| 4551 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2020-07-09 |
| 4536 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2020-04-16 |
| 4528 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3474 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4415 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADO | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-02-14 |
| 4268 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-03-25 |
| 4175 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2014-04-30 |
| 4081 | HURRICANE ISAAC | DR | Hurricane | 2012-08-29 |
| 3348 | TROPICAL STORM ISAAC | EM | Hurricane | 2012-08-28 |
| 3291 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-30 |
| 1604 | HURRICANE KATRINA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-08-29 |
| 3213 | HURRICANE KATRINA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-08-28 |
Show 13 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1594 | HURRICANE DENNIS | DR | Hurricane | 2005-07-10 |
| 1550 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-15 |
| 1360 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-02-23 |
| 1251 | HURRICANE GEORGES | DR | Hurricane | 1998-10-01 |
| 3132 | HURRICANE GEORGES | EM | Hurricane | 1998-09-28 |
| 859 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1990-02-28 |
| 787 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1987-03-05 |
| 599 | HURRICANE FREDERIC | DR | Hurricane | 1979-09-13 |
| 3032 | DROUGHT & FREEZING | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-02-22 |
| 430 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-04-18 |
| 368 | HEAVY RAINS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1973-03-27 |
| 302 | STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1971-02-22 |
| 271 | HURRICANE CAMILLE | DR | Hurricane | 1969-08-18 |
Storm Events in Mississippi
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Jones County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,557 | 17 | 60 | $93.9M |
| Flash Flood | 1,551 | 6 | 9 | $83.6M |
| Hail | 1,411 | 0 | 0 | $90.1M |
| Heat | 1,340 | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| Tornado | 1,097 | 68 | 610 | $562.0M |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
248
Total Paid
$2.5M
Avg Per Claim
$9.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 80.2/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$31.5M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Tornado Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Lightning Relatively High
Hail Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Wildfire Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Landslide Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Tornado
Tornado exposure is the most spatially concentrated in the model: total destruction along a narrow corridor with intact property either side. County-level averages therefore understate severity badly for anyone actually in the path, and overstate it for everyone else.
Worth noting for Jones County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Tornado carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Jones County's closest FEMA peer: Sullivan County, NH
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Jones County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Jones County shows 33 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Jones County: 22 of 33 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Jones County: NRI composite 80.2 (Relatively Low).
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Jones County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Jones County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 80.2 (Relatively Low).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 33. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Jones County's NFIP claims file (248 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Jones County?
The most common disaster type in Jones County is Hurricane, with 16 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (9), Winter Storm (2), Biological (2).
How does Jones County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Mississippi average?
FEMA lists 33 declaration records for Jones County. That is 27% above the Mississippi county mean of 25.9. Its count is also 59% above the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Jones County received?
Jones County has received 22 major disaster declarations, representing 67% of all 33 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Jones County filed?
Jones County has 248 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $2.5M in payments, with an average of $9.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Jones County?
No. In Jones County, Tornado has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $10.3M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Jones County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Jones County was 2020, with 6 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1969 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Jones County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Jones County, Mississippi has an overall risk score of 80.2 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $31.5M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Jones County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Jones County is Tornado (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively Moderate) and Strong Wind (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts tornado here at roughly once every 1 years, drawn from 73 historical events on record. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, exposed assets, and community vulnerability.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Jones County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Mississippi profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events