FEMA Records
24
Above median
Mississippi · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Rankin County, MS
24 FEMA disaster declarations (1969-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 24
- FEMA declarations
- 17
- Major disasters
- 85
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Rankin County has a nationally busy FEMA history: 24 declarations, more than 66% of counties in this registry. But the state comparison tempers that reading: the total is 7% below the Mississippi county mean. FEMA's separate National Risk Index places the county in the riskiest 15%; that score models loss and vulnerability rather than counting declarations.
- Riskiest 15%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 24
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 978
- 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.
How does Rankin County compare?
Rankin County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
24 Top 34% higher than 66% 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 · 2026-08-03
Rankin County's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Mississippi county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Rankin County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $20.8M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively Low), while Hail 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 Rankin County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 978 claims and $20.9M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $21.4K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
Start with the state benchmark: a Mississippi county averages 25.9 federal declaration records, while Rankin County has 24. The gap is 7% below that mean. Fewer entries indicate a quieter history of recorded federal actions, not immunity from a hazard and not a prediction about what happens next.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 85.0/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Moderate (roughly $60.2M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Low and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hail stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 4.6 times per year here, based on 176 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
Nationally, Rankin County's 24 FEMA records form a high-volume history; within Mississippi, however, the count is 7% below the county mean. 17 entries carry the Major Disaster classification. The largest incident group is Hurricane, appearing 10 times. The full 57-year record averages 0.4 declarations annually. A DR label alone does not say whether Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, or both followed.
67 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Rankin 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) High
17/30
24 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.2x national county average)
County Disaster Density Moderate
12/25
24 declarations (0.9x state county average of 26)
Major Disaster Share High
18/25
17 of 24 declarations are major disasters (71%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Rankin County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Mississippi Avg
-7%
State avg: 25.9
vs. National Avg
+16%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.4
Over 57 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Rankin 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
71%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
85
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Rankin 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hail | Relatively High | an average of 4.6 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively High | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 15 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively High | an average of 3.9 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 72 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 11 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 509 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 2.5 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.7 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 14 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 4 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,400 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 10
Severe Storm 6
Winter Storm 2
Biological 2
Severe Ice Storm 1
Tornado 1
Snowstorm 1
Flood 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Rankin County's federal record, 42% 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 - 17 70.8%
of all 24 declarations
Emergency - 7 29.2%
of all 24 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 2 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 2 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
Show 2 earlier declaration years
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1969 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 24 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 24 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 |
| 4598 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-05-04 |
| 3548 | HURRICANE DELTA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-10-08 |
| 4528 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3474 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 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 |
| 1594 | HURRICANE DENNIS | DR | Hurricane | 2005-07-10 |
| 1550 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-15 |
| 1459 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODS | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-04-24 |
| 968 | SEVERE STORMS, HIGH WINDS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1992-11-25 |
| 683 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1983-06-01 |
| 678 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING & TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1983-04-16 |
Show 4 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 577 | STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODS | DR | Severe Storm | 1979-04-16 |
| 3032 | DROUGHT & FREEZING | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-02-22 |
| 430 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-04-18 |
| 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 Rankin 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
978
Total Paid
$20.9M
Avg Per Claim
$21.4K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 85.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Moderate
$60.2M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Low
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hail Relatively High
Tornado Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Ice Storm Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Hurricane Relatively Low
Earthquake Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Wildfire 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: Hail
Hail is among the most expensive hazards in the model relative to how little it threatens life. It concentrates on roofs, vehicles and crops, and a single severe storm can generate an insurance loss across a metropolitan area without a single injury.
Worth noting for Rankin County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Hail 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
Rankin County's closest FEMA peer: Polk County, MO
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Rankin County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Rankin County shows 24 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Rankin County: 17 of 24 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Rankin County: NRI composite 85.0 (Relatively Moderate).
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 Rankin County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Rankin County's NFIP claims file (978 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).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Rankin County?
The most common disaster type in Rankin County is Hurricane, with 10 declarations. Other disaster types include Severe Storm (6), Winter Storm (2), Biological (2).
How does Rankin County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Mississippi average?
The typical Mississippi county has 25.9 FEMA declaration records; Rankin County has 24, or 7% fewer. Against the national county mean of 20.7, this county's total is 16% higher. The comparison is historical and says nothing about the probability of a future event.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Rankin County received?
Rankin County has received 17 major disaster declarations, representing 71% of all 24 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Rankin County filed?
Rankin County has 978 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $20.9M in payments, with an average of $21.4K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Rankin County?
No. In Rankin County, Hail has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $20.8M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Rankin County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Rankin County was 2021, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1969 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Rankin County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Rankin County, Mississippi has an overall risk score of 85.0 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Low, while community resilience comes in at Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Moderate, representing $60.2M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Rankin County?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Rankin County as of the latest release is Hail (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Tornado (Relatively High) and Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hail here at an average of 4.6 times per year, drawn from 176 historical events on record. FEMA derives these ratings from historical event frequency, the assets exposed, and the community's vulnerability profile.
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.
What this means for Rankin County
Against a Mississippi county mean of 26 declarations, Rankin County, MS records 24, or 7% fewer. PlainHazard classifies that historical total as high activity.
- Major Disaster is the largest group (17 of 24) in a declaration history that remains below its state benchmark; frequency here is not a forecast. Mississippi overview
- Nationally the county exceeds 66% of recorded county totals, but its own Mississippi benchmark is higher. The ranking keeps those two contexts separate. Most-disaster rankings
- The large NFIP claims file and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records; the guide explains where they overlap and where they do not. Disaster-data guide
A below-average federal record is not a safety guarantee. Use National Weather Service alerts and local emergency-management notices for present conditions, not this historical comparison.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.