Forrest County, MS flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Forrest County sits at the 69.6th national percentile, below the national norm for flood hazard; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 3.6 times a year. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Forrest County
17.1% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Forrest County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 353 policies against 2,061 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.8% of all residential structures in Forrest County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Forrest County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Forrest County ranks 996 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 736 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. About 78,435 people live in Forrest County, Mississippi, spread over 466.042 square miles.
Your street may differ from Forrest County's average
Across all of Forrest County's 25,943 residential structures, 469 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Forrest 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.