320 flood insurance claims·$5.4M paid·18 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 Franklin 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 severe weather events dominates the flood risk profile of Franklin Parish, supported by 42 recorded flash flood events over the last thirty years alongside impacts from tropical systems and general flooding. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including a March 2024 low-pressure system that brought severe thunderstorms and flooding rainfall, and a slow-moving low-pressure system in August 2022 that delivered rounds of heavy rain over consecutive days, flooding roads and toppling trees in saturated soils.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property damage occurs across multiple zones with varying severity. Zone A has experienced the highest frequency with 184 claims, averaging a $14,277 payout with an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X registered higher average payouts despite fewer claims, with 32 claims averaging $38,492 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Zone X Unshaded recorded 56 claims averaging $33,172 with an average water depth of 3 inches, while Zone Unknown accounted for 44 claims averaging $8,030 with an average depth of 9 inches, and Zone X Shaded saw 4 claims averaging $23,040 with a 2-inch average depth. Homeowners and real estate agents working in both high-risk Zone A and seemingly lower-risk Zone X areas should pay close attention to these historical claim patterns when assessing property risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
25% of Franklin Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
244 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 6 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 2008, with 73 claims and $2.6M paid, the year of Hurricane Gustav.
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.
25 NOAA storm reports from Franklin Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
42 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 18 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.
51 since 1996: 42 flash floods and 1 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 25, 2024 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 24, 2022 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 23, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Aug 23, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 18, 2022 | $2,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2020 | $40,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 22, 2020 | $3,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2020 | $75,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Mar 25, 2024. As a low pressure system moved across the country, strong to severe thunderstorms developed and moved across portions of northeast Louisiana. These storms produced damaging wind gusts, hail, and flooding rainfall.
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.
Flash Flood · Aug 23, 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 23rd. This flooded roads across portions of the area, and trees in saturated soils were more easily blown down.
Flood · Aug 23, 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 23rd. This flooded roads across portions of the area, and trees in saturated soils were more easily blown down.
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 Franklin 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.