FEMA Records
31
High volume
Mississippi · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Yazoo County, MS
31 FEMA disaster declarations (1971-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 31
- FEMA declarations
- 21
- Major disasters
- 71
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Yazoo County. Its 31 FEMA declarations are 20% above the Mississippi county mean and exceed the count for 88% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 29%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 29%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 31
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 410
- 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 Yazoo County compare?
Yazoo County vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
31 Top 12% higher than 88% 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
Yazoo 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 Yazoo County is led by Cold Wave (about $5.1M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Lightning 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 Yazoo County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 410 paid claims, totaling $7.8M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $18.9K 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. Yazoo County's 31 federal records stand 20% 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 71.2/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $18.9M in annualized losses), and a Very High social-vulnerability profile combined with Relatively Low community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Lightning stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 68 times per year here, based on 85,734 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 31 entries for Yazoo County, including 21 Major Disaster records, 20% above the Mississippi county mean. Across the 55-year span, that works out to 0.6 declarations a year. Severe Storm leads the file with 13 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
74 /100
Historical Activity Index
High historical activity
Yazoo 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
22/30
31 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.5x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
15/25
31 declarations (1.2x state county average of 26)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
21 of 31 declarations are major disasters (68%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in Yazoo County
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Mississippi Avg
+20%
State avg: 25.9
vs. National Avg
+50%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.6
Over 55 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Yazoo 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
68%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
71
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Yazoo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 68 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 18 modeled event-days per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4 times per year |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 3.4 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 17 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | roughly once every 14 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1 time per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 430 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Low | an average of 2.6 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Low | an average of 1.6 times per year |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 1,494 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 13
Hurricane 7
Flood 3
Winter Storm 2
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Snowstorm 1
Tornado 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Yazoo County's record, 42% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
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 - 21 67.7%
of all 31 declarations
Emergency - 10 32.3%
of all 31 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 3 | |
| 2020 | 3 | |
| 2019 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
Show 7 earlier declaration years
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 2 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 31 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 31 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 |
| 4538 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, AND MUDSLIDES | DR | Severe Storm | 2020-04-23 |
| 4528 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3474 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4450 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-06-20 |
| 4429 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-04-23 |
| 4314 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2017-05-22 |
| 4081 | HURRICANE ISAAC | DR | Hurricane | 2012-08-29 |
| 3348 | TROPICAL STORM ISAAC | EM | Hurricane | 2012-08-28 |
| 1983 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-05-11 |
| 3320 | FLOODING | EM | Flood | 2011-05-04 |
| 1906 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-04-29 |
| 3291 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-30 |
| 1604 | HURRICANE KATRINA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-08-29 |
Show 11 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1459 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODS | DR | Severe Storm | 2003-04-24 |
| 1360 | SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2001-02-23 |
| 1265 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS, ICE AND FREEZING RAIN | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 1999-01-25 |
| 906 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1991-05-17 |
| 683 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1983-06-01 |
| 577 | STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODS | DR | Severe Storm | 1979-04-16 |
| 3077 | STORMS, TORNADOES, FLOODS | EM | Severe Storm | 1979-04-14 |
| 3032 | DROUGHT & FREEZING | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-02-22 |
| 3010 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | EM | Flood | 1975-04-04 |
| 368 | HEAVY RAINS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1973-03-27 |
| 302 | STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1971-02-22 |
Storm Events in Mississippi
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Yazoo 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 NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
410
Total Paid
$7.8M
Avg Per Claim
$18.9K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 71.2/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$18.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Very High
Community Resilience
Relatively Low
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Lightning Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Drought Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Hail Relatively Moderate
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Landslide Relatively Low
Hurricane Relatively Low
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Relatively Low
Wildfire Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Lightning
Lightning is modeled as a high-frequency, low-per-event hazard: strike counts are large, but each strike affects a very small area. Its aggregate cost accumulates through structure fires, electrical and electronic damage, and it is one of the few hazards whose risk is essentially continuous through the season rather than episodic.
For Yazoo County the two measures on this page point the same way: Lightning is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Severe Storm declarations also lead its federal record. Where the model and the declaration history agree, the reading is comparatively straightforward, the hazard is both expected and repeatedly realised.
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
Yazoo County's closest FEMA peer: Nassau County, NY
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Yazoo County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Yazoo County shows 31 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Yazoo County: 21 of 31 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Yazoo County: NRI composite 71.2 (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 Yazoo County - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Yazoo County's NFIP claims file (410 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 Yazoo County?
The most common disaster type in Yazoo County is Severe Storm, with 13 declarations. Other disaster types include Hurricane (7), Flood (3), Winter Storm (2).
How does Yazoo County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Mississippi average?
FEMA lists 31 declaration records for Yazoo County. That is 20% above the Mississippi county mean of 25.9. Its count is also 50% 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 Yazoo County received?
Yazoo County has received 21 major disaster declarations, representing 68% of all 31 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Yazoo County filed?
Yazoo County has 410 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $7.8M in payments, with an average of $18.9K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Yazoo County?
No. In Yazoo County, Lightning has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Cold Wave leads Expected Annual Loss at about $5.1M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Yazoo County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Yazoo County was 2020, with 3 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1971 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Yazoo County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Yazoo County, Mississippi has an overall risk score of 71.2 out of 100 (Relatively Low). The county's social vulnerability rating is Very High and community resilience is Relatively Low. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $18.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Yazoo County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Yazoo County is Lightning (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively High) and Drought (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts lightning here at an average of 68 times per year, drawn from 85,734 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.
What this means for Yazoo County
Yazoo County, MS has 31 federal declaration records, 20% more than the Mississippi county mean of 26; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 21 of 31 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Mississippi overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Mississippi mean and the totals for 88% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- Use the data guide to separate this mid-volume insurance-claims file from declaration counts and modeled NRI risk. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
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.