Pike County, Mississippi

What hazards hit Pike County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 202 since 1962. 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 Pike County had?

NOAA records 37 tornadoes in Pike County from 1962 to 2026, the strongest rated F4, with 4 deaths and 213 injuries recorded in the county. That is 20th of 82 Mississippi counties and 116th of 3,080 U.S. counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. 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 34 tornadoes whose track touched Pike 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 15 people, 4 of them in Pike 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 Pike County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 6, 2026 tornado ($10,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

A NWS ground survey confirmed an EF-1 tornado with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph tracked across portions of southeast Pike. This tornado began near Smithburg, MS at the intersection of Mount Herman Road Silver Drive where it uprooted a tree and snapped branches. Additional EF-0 tree damage was identified on Blanchard and Smithburg roads. The tornado peaked in intensity as an EF-1 as it crossed over Harold Alford Road uprooting and snapping several trees as well as taking down wooden transmission lines. At this point, the tornado exited Pike County and entered Walthall County.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1344361)

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 Pike 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 Pike County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Pike County

FEMA's register lists 34 declarations that include Pike County: 23 major disasters, 11 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (16) and severe storm (8).

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.

How many floods has Pike County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 16 flood or flash flood records for Pike County from 1997 to 2026, on 15 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Pike County ranks 967th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $4.3 million on 190 claims filed in Pike County; the most in one year was 20 in 1979. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Pike County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Pike County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $17.7 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 Pike County

1. Tangipahoa Parish, LA 664
2. Lincoln County 644
3. Pike County 401
4. Washington Parish, LA 366
5. Amite County 265
6. Walthall County 254

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 Pike CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Pike County's FEMA declarations (CSV)34 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis