22,575 flood insurance claims·$1.3B paid·30 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 East Baton Rouge 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 flood events from the NOAA Storm Events Database dominate the 30-year hazard mix in East Baton Rouge Parish with 92 recorded events and 3 deaths, alongside significant impacts from hurricanes, tropical storms, and general floods. Recent hazards are exemplified by the April 2025 event, when a slow-moving mesoscale convective vortex stalled near the Baton Rouge metro area, causing training cells that rendered streets impassable and allowed water to enter buildings.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with high-risk Zone A accounting for 17,390 claims at an average payout of $70,751 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. Zone X properties also face substantial risk, with 3,193 claims averaging $81,546 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. Shaded and unshaded Zone X properties recorded lower impacts, with unshaded Zone X logging 1,068 claims averaging $27,365 and 7 inches of average water depth, and shaded Zone X recording 406 claims averaging $24,965 and 6 inches of average water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists in East Baton Rouge Parish should pay the closest attention to properties located in Zone A and Zone X, where historical claims indicate the highest average payouts and deepest recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
8% of East Baton Rouge Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
18,895 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 12 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 11,647 claims and $1.1B 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.
81 NOAA storm reports from East Baton Rouge Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
47 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 30 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Tropical Storm Francine | Sep 10, 2024 |
| Hurricane Francine | Sep 9, 2024 |
| Tropical Storm Nicholas | Sep 12, 2021 |
| Hurricane Ida | Aug 26, 2021 |
| Tropical Storm Ida | Aug 26, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 17, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
113 since 1996: 92 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 29, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 29, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 24, 2025 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 24, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 24, 2025 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2024 | $1.0M |
| Flash Flood | Apr 10, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 30, 2025. A primed microburst environment was in place on July 30, 2025, as hot and humid conditions combined with a weak surface low pressure across southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi. Numerous severe thunderstorms developed through the afternoon. In Marrero, Jefferson Parish, thunderstorm winds knocked down a powerline, while additional wind damage in Hammond brought down multiple trees, including one onto a pow…
Flash Flood · Mar 29, 2025. An upper level system moved across the area very slowly on March 29th. The flow pattern in the upper levels were quite conducive for sustained thunderstorm growth. Add in ample moisture in place to produce moderate to heavy rain and the environment was prime for producing flash flooding. Training thunderstorms in the Baton Rouge Metro area resulted in flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Apr 24, 2025. On the morning of April 24th, a remnant mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) that originated off the southeast Texas coast drifted along the northern Gulf and eventually stalled near the Baton Rouge metro area. The first storms developed on the west side of the Mississippi River over Addis, Brusly, and Plaquemine, where slow-moving and training cells led to significant flash flooding, rendering many streets impassabl…
Tropical Storm · Sep 11, 2024. Hurricane Francine formed as a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico on September 9, 2024, and intensified into a Category 2 hurricane before making landfall near Houma, Louisiana, on the morning of September 11. With sustained winds of 100 mph and gusts peaking at 105 mph, Francine brought widespread damage to southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi. A storm surge of 6-9 feet inundated low-lying coastal ar…
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 East Baton Rouge 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.