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Risk & Response

Forrest County, MS

Community risk profile | NRI Score: 63.7 Relatively High

78,272
Population
6
Departments
21
Stations
21
Census Tracts

Natural Hazard Loss Profile

Expected annual loss across the 18 natural hazards in FEMA's National Risk Index. Life safety is expressed in fatality-equivalents, combining expected deaths and injuries. Property loss counts building damage only, not agriculture.

Natural Hazard Life Safety
0.90
expected fatality-equivalents per year, natural hazards only
10th highest of 82
Life Safety per 100k
1.15
natural hazard fatality-equivalents per 100,000 residents
54th highest of 82
Natural Hazard Property Loss
$20.8M
expected building loss per year, natural hazards only
12th highest of 82
Property Loss per Resident
$266
natural hazard building loss per resident per year
48th highest of 82

These figures cover natural hazards only. Structure fire, EMS, and motor vehicle incidents are not in the National Risk Index, so this is not an all-cause life safety measure. For Forrest County, the largest single contributor is Tornado, 50% of the life-safety total.

Forrest County carries an expected under 1 natural hazard fatality-equivalents and $20.8M in building loss per year. Rank chips compare the 82 Mississippi counties. Nationally, Forrest County ranks 654th of 3,222 U.S. counties for life-safety loss, 1476th for life safety per 100k residents, 862nd for property loss, and 2145th for property loss per resident. Computed from census tract data covering every resident, independent of fire department boundaries.

Add fire mortality, cause, and loss

Natural hazard exposure is only part of the risk. Fire deaths and injuries, cause of ignition, and dollar loss per incident come from NERIS incident reporting, which grows as departments serving Forrest County enroll. Our Regional tier adds that data for the departments your jurisdiction sponsors, next to public risk and NERIS adoption for every department in Forrest County.

Talk to us about Forrest County See what a department sees

Loss Breakdown

63%
37%
Property (buildings): $20.8M (62.6%)
Life safety: $12.3M (36.9%)
Agriculture: $180K (0.5%)

Total expected annual loss: $33,288,879 per year. Life safety is shown here in dollars, at FEMA's $13.7M value of statistical life, so the three shares sum to the total.

Hazards Ranked Two Ways

The hazard that threatens people is often not the hazard that destroys buildings. Both columns cover the same 18 hazards over the same year.

By life-safety loss ($/yr)

Tornado
$6.2M
Strong Wind
$1.7M
Heat Wave
$1.6M
Lightning
$974K
Cold Wave
$610K
Inland Flooding
$448K

By property loss ($/yr)

Inland Flooding
$10.6M
Hurricane
$6.6M
Tornado
$1.6M
Hail
$678K
Earthquake
$449K
Wildfire
$342K

Census Tract Risk Map

Shaded by quintile across the census tracts in Forrest County. Gray tracts have no modeled loss or no resident population. Per-resident figures on this map use the National Risk Index 2020 tract population.

Fire Service Profile

33%
67%
Career: 33% (2)
Volunteer: 67% (4)
Residents per Station
3,727
census population per registered station
Stations per 100k
26.8
registered stations per 100,000 residents

Department composition covers the 6 departments registered in NERIS Public for Forrest County, MS. Departments that have not registered are not counted. Station coverage divides census population by registered stations; department service areas overlap, so their populations are not summed.

Department Rankings

Fire and EMS departments serving Forrest County. Click column headers to sort.

NRI Rating is from FEMA's National Risk Index, which measures community risk across 18 natural hazards using expected annual losses, social vulnerability, and community resilience. Life-Safety Loss uses FEMA's Value of Statistical Life ($13.7M per expected fatality) to estimate annual risk to human life.

Department boundaries and station counts are self-reported through NERIS Public and may not reflect current service areas. Population and Life-Safety Loss reflect each department's full jurisdiction. County-level risk metrics are computed from census tract data and are not affected by boundary accuracy. See full methodology.

Showing 6 departments
Department ▲ Est. Population ▲ Life-Safety Loss ▼ NRI Rating ▲ Stations ▲
Hattiesburg Fire Department 48,165 $7.4M Relatively High 11
North Forrest Volunteer Fire Department 23,123 $3.9M Relatively High 2
Petal Fire Department 11,571 $1.7M Relatively Moderate 3
Carnes Volunteer Fire Department 8,729 $1.2M Relatively High 2
Dixie Volunteer Fire Department 3,594 $520.7K Relatively High 1
Mclaurin Volunteer Fire Department 2,476 $355.7K Relatively High 2
No departments match your search.

Risk Snapshot

21.0%
Poverty Rate
13.7%
Age 65+
19.2%
Disability Rate
11.1%
Uninsured
47.5%
Pre-1980 Housing
9.7%
Mobile Homes
10.7%
Vacancy Rate
0.5%
Wood Heat
$56,308
Median HH Income

FEMA Disaster Declarations

13
Last 10 Years
23
Last 25 Years
Hurricane
Most Frequent

Every department in your region, on one briefing

Our Regional tier gives state fire marshals and county fire authorities one briefing across every department in the jurisdiction: priority tracts ranked by risk and demand, NERIS adoption by county, and a quarterly report with a page per department. Response times appear for the departments you sponsor. Free 90-day pilot.

Explore the Regional Tier See the Response Demo