239 flood insurance claims·$6.8M paid·13 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 Morehouse 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 dominates the flood history of Morehouse Parish, supported by 46 recorded flash flood events over the last 30 years alongside river floods, tropical storms, and hurricanes.
Severe weather impacts are documented in recent historical records, including heavy rainfall and flash flooding from slow-moving thunderstorms in June 2025, and inland wind damage and flooding produced by the remnants of Hurricane Delta in October 2020.
Property owners in both high-risk and moderate-to-low risk zones have experienced flood losses. NFIP claims data shows significant impacts across designated areas, including 106 claims in Zone A with an average recorded water depth of 9 inches and an average payout of $30,403, as well as 67 claims in Zone X averaging an 11-inch water depth with an average payout of $48,680. Residents in Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 42 claims averaging 9 inches of water depth, Zone X_SHADED recorded 14 claims averaging 11 inches, and unknown zones recorded 10 claims averaging 1 inch of water depth. Homeowners and real estate agents in all mapped zones should account for these historical flood depths and claim frequencies when evaluating property risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
35% of Morehouse Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
162 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 79 claims and $4.7M 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.
21 NOAA storm reports from Morehouse Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
35 federal disaster declarations since 1977, 13 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.
57 since 1996: 46 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 17, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 22, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2020 | $80,000 |
| Tropical Depression | Oct 9, 2020 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 8, 2020 | $2,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 9, 2019 | $30,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 17, 2025. Numerous thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of the 16th and again during the day on June 17th. Some storm clusters became severe and produced damaging winds as they moved northeast across the area. Additionally, locally heavy rainfall produced some flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. Thunderstorms produced heavy, flooding rains in the Bastrop area.
Flash Flood · May 22, 2024. Slow moving storms caused heavy rain and flash flooding in portions of 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 Morehouse 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.