4,231 flood insurance claims·$68.0M paid·25 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 Rapides 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 driven by frequent storms dominates the flood history of Rapides Parish, backed by 43 recorded flash flood events over the last 30 years compared to 7 standard flood events, 5 tropical storms, and 4 hurricanes. Severe weather events frequently stem from stalled frontal boundaries and slow-moving upper-level disturbances, such as the heavy rainfall and thunderstorms that produced flooding in Alexandria in mid-August 2025, and stalled systems that brought multiple rounds of heavy rain in May 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that property damage is not limited to designated high-risk areas. While Zone A accounts for 2,773 claims with an average payout of $19,140 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches, unshaded Zone X properties have also sustained significant impact with 567 claims averaging $18,732 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Furthermore, shaded Zone X properties recorded the highest average water depth at 8 inches across 168 claims, with an average payout of $22,616.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in both traditional high-risk Zone A and the various Zone X designations, where hundreds of property owners have experienced property damage from standing water averaging between 5 and 8 inches deep.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
21% of Rapides Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
3,508 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 5 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 566 claims and $17.4M 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.
21 NOAA storm reports from Rapides Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
49 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 25 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Tropical Storm Francine | Sep 10, 2024 |
| Highway 113 Fire | Aug 30, 2023 |
| 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.
59 since 1996: 43 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 14, 2025 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 7, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 6, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 11, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 10, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 14, 2025. An upper level disturbance slowly moved across Louisiana allowing for scattered showers and storms to develop during the afternoons of mid-August. The slow motion and high rain rate produced flooding in Alexandria.
Flash Flood · May 7, 2025. A warm front slowly lifted north across the region during the 6th causing rain and thunderstorms. A low pressure system and associated cold front slowly pushed back across the area on the 7th and stalled into the 9th with a couple rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms.
Flash Flood · May 6, 2025. A warm front slowly lifted north across the region during the 6th causing rain and thunderstorms. A low pressure system and associated cold front slowly pushed back across the area on the 7th and stalled into the 9th with a couple rounds of heavy rain and thunderstorms.
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. A cold front drifted into the region and stalled across central Louisiana. Thunderstorms developed along the boundary during the afternoon and evening of the 5th with one becoming severe.
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 Rapides 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.