Kemper County, Mississippi

What hazards hit Kemper County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 191 since 1955. The rank column places the county among Mississippi's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Kemper County had?

NOAA records 37 tornadoes in Kemper County from 1954 to 2025, the strongest rated EF5, with 5 deaths and 36 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 40 tornadoes whose track touched Kemper County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 37: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 8 people, 5 of them in Kemper County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Mississippi.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Kemper County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 6, 2025 tornado ($800,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

This EF2 tornado began near Willie Clark Road in the Cleveland community, tracking east northeastward across MS Highway 16, Lynville Road, and Anderson Road before lifting just north of MS Highway 16. Along the path, multiple barns were demolished or heavily damaged, and several trees were snapped and uprooted. Along Lynville Road, multiple box trucks and tractors were turned on their sides and a home sustained minor damage. On Anderson Road, a large portion of roof was removed from a home and a portion of the outer walls fell. Path length 1.9 miles, max path width 300 yards, max winds 115 mph.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1260077)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Kemper County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

Records by month in Kemper County. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Kemper County

FEMA's register lists 21 declarations that include Kemper County: 16 major disasters, 5 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (7) and severe storm (5).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Kemper County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Kemper County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $4.1 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Kemper County

1. Lauderdale County 973
2. Newton County 689
3. Neshoba County 680
4. Winston County 448
5. Sumter County, AL 416
6. Kemper County 398
7. Noxubee County 391

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in MississippiEvery Mississippi tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in MississippiThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Mississippi recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Kemper CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Kemper County's FEMA declarations (CSV)21 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis