473 flood insurance claims·$11.1M paid·16 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 Richland 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 severe thunderstorms and tropical systems dominates the flood risk profile in Richland Parish, accounting for 44 of the 54 recorded flood events in the last 30 years alongside impacts from tropical storms and hurricanes. Recent events illustrate this vulnerability, such as a severe thunderstorm producing heavy rainfall and wind damage in April 2024, and slow-moving afternoon showers and thunderstorms within a tropical airmass that caused localized flash flooding in August 2021. Widespread events are also driven by anomalous moisture and saturated conditions, as occurred in January 2020 when rainfall between 2 and 6 inches resulted in widespread flash flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, indicating widespread risk beyond designated high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 211 claims with an average payout of $21,294 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone X accounts for 141 claims with an average payout of $42,443 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches, while unshaded Zone X records 68 claims averaging $23,822 with an average water depth of 3 inches. Shaded Zone X records 19 claims averaging $20,576 with an average water depth of 3 inches, and unknown zones account for 33 claims averaging $8,129 with an average water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to this flood exposure, given the significant claim history and recorded water depths spanning both high-risk special flood hazard areas and moderate-to-low risk zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
29% of Richland Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
299 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 2016, with 92 claims and $4.0M 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.
26 NOAA storm reports from Richland Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
36 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 16 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.
54 since 1996: 44 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 10, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 9, 2024 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 19, 2021 | $1,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2020 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jan 14, 2020 | $5,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2020 | $200,000 |
| Flood | Feb 22, 2018 | $12,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 22, 2018 | $75,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 10, 2024. A severe thunderstorm moving east across northern Louisiana intensified and grew in scale as it encountered showers and thunderstorms over Northeast Louisiana. The resulting line of severe thunderstorms produced significant wind damage and heavy rainfall.
Flash Flood · May 9, 2024. Severe thunderstorms moved across northeast Louisiana and produced damaging wind gusts and hail.
Flash Flood · Aug 19, 2021. Afternoon showers and thunderstorms developed within a tropical airmass. Some storms were slow moving and produced localized flash flooding.
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 Richland 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.