1,627 flood insurance claims·$14.4M paid·23 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from summer thunderstorms and severe weather systems dominates the flood history of Catahoula Parish, backed by 27 recorded flash flood events out of 38 total storm events over the last 30 years. Additional historical impacts include tropical storms and hurricanes, such as the slow-moving remnants of Hurricane Ida in August 2021, which brought tropical storm-force gusts and downed trees, and heavy rainfall from a low-pressure system in August 2022 that produced widespread flash flooding across northeast Louisiana.
Federal insurance data reflects significant historical claims concentrated heavily in specific risk areas. Zone A accounts for the vast majority of National Flood Insurance Program claims with 1,075 filings, averaging a payout of $12,687 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Properties with unknown zone designations represent the second-highest claim volume with 493 filings, averaging $4,098 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties recorded 46 claims with a higher average payout of $31,127 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners and real estate professionals in Zone A and unmapped or unknown zones should pay the closest attention to flood risk, given the high volume of historical claims and average water depths recorded in those areas.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
1% of Catahoula Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,088 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 5 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 1991, with 572 claims and $4.1M paid, the year of Severe Storms & Flooding and Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
12 NOAA storm reports from Catahoula Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
45 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 23 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Tropical Storm Francine | Sep 10, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Nicholas | Sep 12, 2021 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 26, 2021 |
| Tropical Storm Ida | Aug 26, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Tropical Storm Zeta | Oct 26, 2020 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
38 since 1996: 27 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2022 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2022 | $100,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 30, 2021 | $40,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 2, 2021 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 2, 2021 | $5,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2020 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jan 14, 2020 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 9, 2020 | $500,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 24, 2022. A low pressure system spinning over northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas brought several rounds of showers and thunderstorms producing widespread heavy rain to northeast Louisiana through the day August 24th.
Tropical Storm · Aug 30, 2021. Major hurricane Ida made landfall as a strong category four hurricane around 11:55am on August 29 near Grand Isle, LA. It then moved very slowly north through south central Louisiana and into Mississippi on August 30. It then turned northeast and moved across the Jackson metro area as a tropical storm and into northeast Mississippi as a tropical depression through the early morning of August 31. Ida brought tropic…
Flash Flood · Oct 2, 2021. Showers and thunderstorms occurred as a cold front interacted with a warm, moist airmass. This resulted in some flooding in northeast Louisiana.
Tropical Storm · Aug 27, 2020. Hurricane Laura made landfall along the Louisiana coast near Lake Charles in the early morning hours of August 27. It moved north into Central Louisiana during the morning and afternoon before turning to the northeast and tracking through Arkansas. Impacts from Laura were felt far from the center of the storm, which was mainly in the form of tropical storm force winds across portions of northeast Louisiana and sou…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Catahoula Parish is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.