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Mississippi · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index

Lincoln County, MS

32 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.

32
FEMA declarations
22
Major disasters
48
NRI risk · Relatively Low
Hurricane
Top hazard

The verdict

Two federal records point in the busier direction for Lincoln County. Its 32 FEMA declarations are 24% above the Mississippi county mean and exceed the count for 89% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it safer than 48%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.

Safer than 48%
of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
Relatively Low
FEMA National Risk Index rating
32
FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
75
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.

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FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk

County FIPS 28085 · Lincoln County 32 declarations · rank 337/3,266

DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-LOW · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE

  • DECL-HEAVY 32
  • MAJOR-MID 69%
  • RANK-MID #337
  • PHOTO-FINISH Perry
  • NRI-LOW 48
  • ACT-HIGH High
  • TYPE-LEAD Hurricane
  • VS-ST-ABOVE +24%

Nearest declaration peer: Perry, MS (0 declaration gap)

FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Mississippi state profile

Lincoln County among high-volume declaration counties

FEMA declaration records among Lincoln County and nearest peers by total count

declarations

What this shows Lincoln County carries 32 FEMA declaration records, ranked 337 of 3,266 counties in this registry.

Source FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 As of 2026-08-25

Where Lincoln County ranks in the national declaration registry

Lincoln County vs. high-volume counties in this registry

FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Lincoln County

32 Top 11% higher than 89% of 3,266 counties

This county 0 90 all U.S. counties FEMA tracks, bucketed by value

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

Lincoln County's FEMA Risk Index score

0/100100/100Mississippi avg51/10048.4/100
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Mississippi county average

Which hazard drives modeled loss here?

FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Lincoln County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $3.7M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Moderate), while Heat Wave carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate). 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 Lincoln County's hazard record show?

Reading the federal records together

The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 75 paid claims, totaling $514.3K. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $6.9K 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. Lincoln County's 32 federal records stand 24% 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

FEMA's data shows an elevated National Risk Index composite of 48.4/100 for this county (Relatively Low rating). Expected Annual Loss comes in at Very Low (roughly $11.0M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability (Very High) and community resilience (Relatively Low) both factor into how that raw exposure plays out on the ground. Among the 18 modeled hazards, Heat Wave carries the county's highest rating, a mid-range Relatively Moderate. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 15 modeled event-days per year here, based on 228 historical events on record.

75 /100

Historical Activity Index

Very High historical activity

Lincoln 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
23/30

32 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.5x national county average)

County Disaster Density High
15/25

32 declarations (1.2x state county average of 26)

Major Disaster Share High
17/25

22 of 32 declarations are major disasters (69%)

Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20

8 different disaster types declared in Lincoln County

FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Lincoln County

Lincoln County NRI risk profile 8-axis FEMA National Risk Index radar showing per-hazard scores for Earthquake 8, Flood 25, Hurricane 25, Tornado 48, Wildfire 8, Drought 25, Heat Wave 48, Winter Storm 25. The simple mean of these eight displayed scores is 27 of 100. Earthquake Flood Hurricane Tornado Wildfire Drought Heat Wave Winter Storm 27 8-hazard mean
Lincoln County NRI risk profile FIPS 28085 · displayed-hazard mean 27/100
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.

FEMA Records

32

Very high volume

Major Disaster share

69%

Major-heavy

NRI risk score

48

Relatively Low

Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release

How often does each hazard strike Lincoln 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
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate 15 modeled event-days per year
Hurricane Relatively Low roughly once every 7 years
Tornado Relatively Moderate roughly once every 1 years
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate an average of 3 times per year
Hail Relatively Low an average of 3.6 times per year
Wildfire Very Low roughly once every 416 years
Lightning Relatively Moderate an average of 77 times per year
Ice Storm Relatively Low roughly once every 1 years
Earthquake Very Low roughly once every 822 years
Drought Relatively Low 10 modeled event-days per year
Landslide Very Low roughly once every 4 years
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low an average of 1.3 times per year
Cold Wave Relatively Low roughly once every 1 years
Winter Weather Very Low an average of 1.9 times per year

Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release

Disaster Types

Hurricane 14
Severe Storm 6
Flood 3
Tornado 3
Winter Storm 2
Biological 2
Severe Ice Storm 1
Snowstorm 1

What Hurricane declarations mean here

Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Lincoln County's federal record, 44% 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 68.8%

of all 32 declarations

Emergency - 10 31.3%

of all 32 declarations

FEMA Declarations Timeline

Year Declarations
2026 3
2022 1
2021 3
2020 4
2016 1
2012 2
2009 1
2008 2
2005 1
2004 1
2003 2
2001 1
1993 1
1990 1
1977 1
Show 6 earlier declaration years
1975 2
1974 1
1973 1
1972 1
1969 1
1965 1

Disaster Declarations

How the 32 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.

Download these 32 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.

DR# Title Type Incident Date
4922 SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING DR Severe Storm 2026-06-30
4899 SEVERE WINTER STORM DR Winter Storm 2026-02-06
3640 SEVERE WINTER STORM EM Winter Storm 2026-01-24
4626 HURRICANE IDA DR Hurricane 2021-10-22
3569 HURRICANE IDA EM Hurricane 2021-08-28
4598 SEVERE WINTER STORMS DR Severe Ice Storm 2021-05-04
3548 HURRICANE DELTA EM Hurricane 2020-10-08
3544 HURRICANE SALLY EM Hurricane 2020-09-14
3539 HURRICANE MARCO AND TROPICAL STORM LAURA EM Hurricane 2020-08-23
4528 COVID-19 PANDEMIC DR Biological 2020-04-05
3474 COVID-19 EM Biological 2020-03-13
4268 SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING DR Flood 2016-03-25
4081 HURRICANE ISAAC DR Hurricane 2012-08-29
3348 TROPICAL STORM ISAAC EM Hurricane 2012-08-28
1837 SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND TORNADOES DR Severe Storm 2009-05-12
1794 HURRICANE GUSTAV DR Hurricane 2008-09-22
3291 HURRICANE GUSTAV EM Hurricane 2008-08-30
1604 HURRICANE KATRINA DR Hurricane 2005-08-29
1550 HURRICANE IVAN DR Hurricane 2004-09-15
1459 SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODS DR Severe Storm 2003-04-24
Show 12 earlier declaration records
DR# Title Type Incident Date
1436 TROPICAL STORM ISIDORE DR Hurricane 2002-10-01
1360 SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES DR Severe Storm 2001-02-23
968 SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WINDS & TORNADOES DR Tornado 1992-11-25
859 SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING DR Severe Storm 1990-02-28
3032 DROUGHT & FREEZING EM Snowstorm 1977-02-22
456 TORNADOES DR Tornado 1975-01-30
3006 TORNADOES EM Tornado 1975-01-18
430 HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING DR Flood 1974-04-18
368 HEAVY RAINS, TORNADOES & FLOODING DR Severe Storm 1973-03-27
318 HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING DR Flood 1972-01-19
271 HURRICANE CAMILLE DR Hurricane 1969-08-18
210 HURRICANE BETSY DR Hurricane 1965-09-25

Storm Events in Mississippi

Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Lincoln 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

75

Total Paid

$514.3K

Avg Per Claim

$6.9K

Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data

FEMA National Risk Index

Overall Risk

Relatively Low

Score: 48.4/100

Expected Annual Loss

Very Low

$11.0M/year

Social Vulnerability

Very High

Community Resilience

Relatively Low

Hazard Risk Breakdown

Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Low
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Lightning Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Earthquake Very Low
Drought Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Winter Weather Very 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: Heat Wave

Heat Wave is measured in event-days per year rather than discrete events, and it is the hazard whose harm is most consistently undercounted: its toll is health and mortality, concentrated among people without cooling, rather than visible damage to property.

Worth noting for Lincoln County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Heat Wave carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively Moderate), 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

Lincoln County's closest FEMA peer: Le Flore County, OK

Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Lincoln County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.

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 Lincoln County - capture-dated entries only.

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume

Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Lincoln 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.

Further reading for this county

Understanding disaster data

Lincoln County's NFIP claims file (75 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.

More PlainHazard guides

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common disaster type in Lincoln County?
The most common disaster type in Lincoln County is Hurricane, with 14 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (6), Flood (3), Tornado (3).
How does Lincoln County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Mississippi average?
FEMA lists 32 declaration records for Lincoln County. That is 24% above the Mississippi county mean of 25.9. Its count is also 54% 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 Lincoln County received?
Lincoln County has received 22 major disaster declarations, representing 69% of all 32 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Lincoln County filed?
Lincoln County has 75 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $514.3K in payments, with an average of $6.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Lincoln County?
No. In Lincoln County, Heat Wave has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively Moderate), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $3.7M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Lincoln County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Lincoln County was 2020, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Lincoln County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Lincoln County, Mississippi has an overall risk score of 48.4 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Very High, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Very Low, representing $11.0M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Lincoln County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Lincoln County is Heat Wave (risk rating: Relatively Moderate). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively Low) and Tornado (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts heat wave here at 15 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 228 historical events on record. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against 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 Lincoln County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Mississippi profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events