Leflore County, MS: flood risk, in FEMA's own numbers
On FEMA's National Risk Index, Leflore County scores at the 70th percentile for flood hazard, rated "Relatively Low" — below the national norm for flood hazard. The hazard here is driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1.2 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Leflore County's flood-insurance compliance gap
15.7% of the homes FEMA requires to carry flood insurance in Leflore County — those inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — actually have a policy in force: 260 policies against 1,656 mandated structures, which means a meaningful share of legally-required coverage simply isn't there. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 5.1% of all residential structures in Leflore County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Leflore County against the rest of the country
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Leflore County ranks 985 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1570 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Leflore County, Mississippi is home to about 26,157 people across 594.074 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Leflore County
Across all of Leflore County's 10,325 residential structures, 528 carry an NFIP policy today — a county-wide count that still can't tell you one address's own mapped zone.
Where Leflore 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.