Claiborne County, MS flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Claiborne County sits at the 25.8th national percentile, among the lowest flood hazard in the country; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 2 years. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Claiborne County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Claiborne County's mapped high-risk flood zone (the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) are legally required to carry an NFIP flood policy. In practice, 10.5% of them do — 16 active policies against 152 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.5% of all residential structures in Claiborne County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Claiborne County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Claiborne County ranks 2379 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 2567 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 8,122 people live in Claiborne County, Mississippi, spread over 487.415 square miles.
Checking a specific address in Claiborne County
18 of Claiborne County's 3,798 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Claiborne County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. If you're unsure why any of this insurance requirement exists at all, the SFHA explainer covers it from first principles.