39 flood insurance claims·$812,276 paid·12 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 De Soto 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 heavy rainfall events dominates the flood risk profile in De Soto Parish, accounting for 55 recorded events and 1 death over the last 30 years, alongside 7 general floods, 3 tropical storms, and 1 hurricane. This hazard is driven by convective systems and stationary frontal boundaries, as demonstrated by severe weather episodes in April 2024 and June 2024 that brought prolonged thunderstorms and heavy moisture to the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in high-risk Zone A face the most consistent threat, generating 31 claims with an average payout of $21,136 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents must also note that properties outside designated high-risk areas are not immune; Zone X properties accounted for 4 claims with an average payout of $53,177 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch. Property owners in Zone A and Zone X should pay close attention to local drainage conditions and flood insurance needs.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of De Soto Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
31 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 10 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 2016, with 9 claims and $306,739 paid, the year of Severe Storms and 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.
38 NOAA storm reports from De Soto Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
33 federal disaster declarations since 1991, 12 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.
66 since 1996: 55 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 26, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Apr 12, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Apr 10, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 4, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 3, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 11, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 6, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 2, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 26, 2024. A broad complex of showers and thunderstorms with associated heavy rainfall developed across areas of Deep East Texas and West Central Louisiana by mid to late morning on July 26th. This occurred within an elongated axis of upper-level energy observed along much of the middle and upper Texas coast and up across interior areas of East Texas around the eastern flank of a broader mid-level trough over the Southern Pl…
Flood · Apr 12, 2024. A frontal boundary became stationary across the heart of the Ark-La-Tex region in vicinity of the Interstate 30 corridor on April 8th before slowly advancing southeast on April 9th. Concurrently, very moist southwest flow aloft resulting from a nearly cut-off low across the Desert Southwest provided for precipitable water values near 2 inches. Thunderstorms developed and gradually spread northward from Central…
Flood · Apr 10, 2024. A frontal boundary became stationary across the heart of the Ark-La-Tex region in vicinity of the Interstate 30 corridor on April 8th before slowly advancing southeast on April 9th. Concurrently, very moist southwest flow aloft resulting from a nearly cut-off low across the Desert Southwest provided for precipitable water values near 2 inches. Thunderstorms developed and gradually spread northward from Central…
Flash Flood · Jun 4, 2024. A remnant overnight thunderstorm complex along the border of Texas and Louisiana showed renewed intensification early in the afternoon on June 4th as it progressed east southeastward. The convective environment near and just downstream of this system continued to destabilize, with surface temperatures in the mid to upper 80s and dew points in the mid to upper 70s, under modest mid-level lapse rates. Although mid t…
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 De Soto 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.