14,639 flood insurance claims·$829.8M paid·29 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 Livingston 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 and thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Livingston Parish, accounting for 22 of the 28 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside storm surge, tropical storms, and general floods resulting in two deaths. Recent historical impacts include flash flooding caused by repeated rounds of thunderstorms and a linear storm complex on May 16, 2024, as well as significant flash flooding and storm surge driven by Hurricane Francine on September 11, 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend well beyond high-risk areas, with claims filed across multiple zones. Zone A carries the heaviest burden with 12,091 historical claims averaging $66,542 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. However, properties in Zone X have also experienced significant impacts, recording 1,363 claims with an average payout of $90,560 and an average water depth of 9 inches. Additionally, smaller claim counts exist in unshaded and shaded Zone X variations, which logged average water depths of 17 and 18 inches, respectively.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists working in Livingston Parish should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A due to the sheer volume of claims, while also carefully evaluating homes in Zone X and other mapped zones where substantial payouts and rising water depths demonstrate persistent vulnerability to flooding.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Livingston Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
12,169 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 7,870 claims and $734.1M 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.
17 NOAA storm reports from Livingston Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
52 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 29 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 Winter Storm | Feb 11, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 11, 2021 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
28 since 1996: 22 flash floods, 1 river or area floods and 3 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 16, 2024 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Jun 16, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 15, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2024 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2024 | $30,000 |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Sep 11, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 29, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 15, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 16, 2024. Continual progressive flow aloft coupled with unstable air ignited thunderstorms across southeastern Texas during the afternoon hours. These storms formed into a linear complex and traversed along a northward advancing warm front draped across the gulf coast. Aided by ample instability and favorable wind shear, this cluster organized into a damaging wind with embedded tornado risk across southeastern Louisiana. Mu…
Storm Surge/Tide · Jun 16, 2024. As a surface ridge nearby shifted off to the northeast during the 3rd weekend of June, light and variable winds became onshore and more steady state. By June 16th, the surface ridge shifted offshore into the Atlantic Ocean and a surface low pressure was developing as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula. It was at this point that east to southeast winds increased to 15-20 knots across local coastal waters and didn't l…
Flash Flood · Aug 15, 2024. A fairly typical summertime upper level pattern was in place with strong high pressure centered well west of the local area. That put southern Louisiana on the eastern periphery of this ridge in a region of northwestern upper level flow. That setup is often conducive for strong to severe thunderstorm development and what took place on August 15th. Thunderstorms initially developed in central Mississippi early afte…
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 Livingston 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.