Automated baseline from FEMA and NOAA data, release 2026-10.

Lafayette County, MS

Risk-assessment baseline packet. County FIPS 28071. Release 2026-10, data as of 2026-09-30.

Summary

Plan status as of 2026-09-30: Approved, expires 2027-05-04. Plan: MEMA District 2 Regional (FEMA plan 108138), approved 2022-05-05.

Since the plan was approved on 2022-05-05: 2 new hazard declarations (1 incident) and 165 NOAA Storm Events records; details under "What changed since your last plan".

Highest expected annual loss (FEMA National Risk Index, modeled total; see B1-a): Inland Flooding ($6,518,656 a year), Cold Wave ($6,471,755) and Earthquake ($4,489,996).

The packet's tables are organized by the items of FEMA's Local Mitigation Plan Review Tool, Element B (B1-a to B2-c); the summaries below follow the same order.

Download the packet

Full packet as a web page. File manifest (checksums, source versions).

Plan clock

Approved, expires 2027-05-04

Plan:
MEMA District 2 Regional (FEMA plan 108138)
Approved:
2022-05-05
Days to expiry:
216
Update underway:
none recorded in FEMA's plan tracker

What changed since your last plan (approved 2022-05-05)

New federal declarations:
2 new hazard declarations (1 incident): EM-3640-MS (Severe Winter Storm), DR-4899-MS (Severe Winter Storm)
Storm Events records since approval:
165 records (data through 2026-06-30)
Repetitive loss now:
FMA RL 1, SRL 0 (44 CFR 77.2); any definition: 6
Repeat-flood change:
this release sets the baseline count.

Plan status for every jurisdiction listed in this county

5 jurisdictions. Each row is that jurisdiction's own plan clock. Notes include other approved plans FEMA lists for the same jurisdiction.

JurisdictionTypeStatusPlanApprovedExpiresDays to expirynegative = days since expiryNotes
Lafayette County (unincorporated area)UnincorporatedApproved, expires 2027-05-04MEMA District 2 Regional (FEMA plan 108138)2022-05-052027-05-04216This jurisdiction approved 2022-07-07.
Abbeville townTownApproved, expires 2027-05-04MEMA District 2 Regional (FEMA plan 108138)2022-05-052027-05-04216This jurisdiction approved 2022-08-01.
Oxford cityCityApproved, expires 2027-05-04MEMA District 2 Regional (FEMA plan 108138)2022-05-052027-05-04216This jurisdiction approved 2022-07-21.
Taylor villageTownApproved, expires 2027-05-04MEMA District 2 Regional (FEMA plan 108138)2022-05-052027-05-04216This jurisdiction approved 2022-08-01.
University of MississippiCollege/UniversityApproved, expires 2030-08-13University of Mississippi (FEMA plan 110504)2025-08-142030-08-131,413

Plan 108138 covers 55 other participants, named in the Excel file.

State plan status and tribal plans in this state: see the state page.

What the packet contains

Sections in FEMA checklist order; each heading names the review item its tables support. Full tables are in the downloads above.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-a Hazard identification

14 of the 18 National Risk Index hazards apply here.

Not applicable to this county per NRI, with no federal declaration and no Storm Events record since 1996: avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami and volcanic activity. That is the evidence for leaving them out of the plan.

Highest expected annual loss (NRI, modeled): Inland Flooding, Cold Wave and Earthquake.

Not covered by NRI (local data needed): dam failure (incl. upstream dams); levee failure; flash flood as its own subtype; ice jams; debris flows; erosion (riverine and coastal); land subsidence and sinkholes; expansive soils.

The state hazard mitigation plan also lists hazards for this county; FEMA asks the plan to explain any hazard it leaves out.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-b Hazard location

  • Cold Wave, Drought, Hail, Heat Wave, Ice Storm, Lightning, Strong Wind and Winter Weather: affects the whole county; national data give no location within it.
  • Earthquake, Hurricane, Landslide, Tornado and Wildfire vary within the county; the packet lists the highest-rated census tracts for each.
  • Inland Flooding: the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is the required location source for flooding. See the FEMA Flood Map Service Center (https://msc.fema.gov) for this county.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-c Hazard extent

Storm Events records for 14 of the 21 NOAA event-type groups mapped to the 18 hazards, with the scale, observed range and worst recorded event for each; the others say which local data are needed.

Worst recorded tornado, hail and thunderstorm wind (the three event types on record since the 1950s; the packet has every group):

  • Hail: 5 in hail, 1962-04-10
  • Thunderstorm Wind: 80 kt (92 mph), measurement type not recorded, Thunderstorm Wind, 1966-04-28
  • Tornado: EF3 tornado, 2008-02-05, 7.15 mi within this county, 1,000 yd wide, $35,000,000 property; $0 crops (2008 dollars), 14 direct injuries

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-d Previous occurrences

Federal declarations for this area: 21 declarations covering 17 separate hazard incidents counted in this packet; each with type, dates and county Public Assistance dollars.

New since the last plan (approved 2022-05-05): DR-4899-MS and EM-3640-MS.

3 statewide declarations listed separately.

Hazards with no Storm Events record and no federal declaration are stated as such (7 of 18).

Storm Events history: 548 records (notable ones in the PDF, all of them in the Excel file).

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-e Probability of future events

FEMA annualized frequency (modeled) for each hazard, with a descriptor from a scale defined in the packet.

  • Highly likely: Hail, Landslide, Lightning and Strong Wind
  • Likely: Cold Wave, Drought, Heat Wave, Inland Flooding, Tornado and Winter Weather
  • Possible: Hurricane and Ice Storm
  • Unlikely: Earthquake and Wildfire

Historical frequency by intensity band (tornado, hail, wind): 9 bands from Storm Events.

Supports FEMA checklist item B1-f Hazards that vary across jurisdictions

Range of census tract risk scores within the area for 14 of the 18 hazards (15 tracts; rated tracts only).

4 jurisdictions: plan clock, repeat-flood count, Public Assistance dollars and event records naming the place (starting figures from federal data).

County Public Assistance in B1-d also includes applicants filed under the county that are not matched to a jurisdiction row here (for example county offices and boards filed under their own names, such as a sheriff's office or a conservation board, and state agencies, special districts and nonprofits), so the jurisdiction rows add up to less.

Supports FEMA checklist items B2-a and B2-b Vulnerability and potential impacts

The packet's table gives county-level starting figures; the plan describes impacts for each jurisdiction and its own assets.

Storm Events damage since 2022-05-05: $612,500 in county-coded records (77 records); $11,040,000 reported for the zone (88 zone records). Data through 2026-06-30; nominal dollars.

Local data needed

To gather:

  • Critical facilities and lifelines per hazard
  • A problem statement per jurisdiction per hazard
  • Changes in development in hazard-prone areas since the last approval, or a statement of none (E1-a)
  • Future assets

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-a Vulnerability (county context)

Population 55,742; building value $11,497,609,282 and agriculture value $12,089,717 (total, not at risk).

National Risk Index rating Relatively Low; social vulnerability Relatively Low; community resilience Very High.

Supports FEMA checklist item B2-c Repetitive loss properties

Repetitive-loss properties, FMA definition (44 CFR 77.2): 1 repetitive loss, 0 severe repetitive loss. NFIP insurance definition: 6 and 0.

Mitigated 0; insured 0; NFIP data as of 2026-08-02. Counts by occupancy group and for each jurisdiction are in the packet.

Releases

Each release is dated; this is release 2026-10. It was first published 2026-09-30; its files do not change except for dated corrections listed on the changelog (corrected 2026-10-01, 2026-10-02, 2026-10-03, 2026-10-13, 2026-10-17). Later releases will be listed here with what changed between them. All releases.

Cite this

Hazard Plain (2026). Lafayette County, MS: risk-assessment baseline packet, release 2026-10 (data as of 2026-09-30; County FIPS 28071). Automated baseline. https://hazardplain.org/ms/28071/ Built from FEMA OpenFEMA, the FEMA National Risk Index and NOAA NCEI Storm Events; source versions in the packet's Sources list.

Source citations for the plan's bibliography (11)

How this packet is built: methods and sources