Moss Point, MS Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Moss Point sits on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where the Escatawpa River joins the Pascagoula River near the Mississippi Sound. Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2005) produced storm surge that pushed creeks, bayous, and the Pascagoula and Escatawpa rivers out of bounds; in the Rose Drive and Kreole communities of Moss Point, homes were inundated with up to 4.5 feet of floodwater, and elsewhere in the city interior flooding exceeded 5 feet. After Katrina, FEMA revised the Jackson County, Mississippi and Incorporated Areas Flood Insurance Study (FIS, document 28059C) and the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs); studied Special Flood Hazard Areas covering Moss Point include Zone AE along the Escatawpa, Pascagoula, and tributary waterways and Zone VE (Coastal High Hazard Area, subject to wave action and storm surge) along areas exposed to the Mississippi Sound. The City of Moss Point participates in the NFIP and enforces a Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance modeled on the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) state model ordinance. Moss Point has adopted an additional 1-foot elevation, referred to as freeboard, above the BFE recommended by the NFIP, which exceeds the federal minimum and qualifies for additional Community Rating System credit. Standard NFIP-model provisions require a development permit for new construction, substantial improvement, or substantial damage repair within a Special Flood Hazard Area; elevation of the lowest floor at or above the BFE plus freeboard; V-zone construction on piles or columns with breakaway walls below the BFE; and application of FEMA's 50-percent substantial-improvement rule (44 CFR 59.1, 44 CFR 60.3). Floodplain administration is handled by the Community Development Department (228-475-0300), which issues elevation certificates and floodplain development permits.