Sunflower County, MS flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Sunflower County sits at the 55th 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 1.3 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Sunflower 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, 14.1% of them do — 74 active policies against 525 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 1.4% of all residential structures in Sunflower County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Sunflower County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Sunflower County ranks 1481 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1683 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Sunflower County, Mississippi is home to about 23,029 people across 697.759 square miles of land.
Checking a specific address in Sunflower County
116 of Sunflower County's 8,533 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
Where Sunflower 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.