SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Warren County, MS: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock
18%
At or near the surface
18%
Buried under cover
0%

The next step for one property

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 108 of Warren County's 589 square miles on soluble rock, 108 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 42,105 residents (72 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 484 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Warren County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Oktibbeha County, MS, about 136 miles northeast. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Vicksburg group and Chickasawhay limestone (limestone), Oligocene in age, covering about 18% of the county.

The county also lies over the Gulf Coast salt domes, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Mississippi

Warren County ranks 17 of 82 in Mississippi for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 74% of US counties on that measure.