65 flood insurance claims·$2.6M paid·20 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 St. Helena 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.
Tropical systems and heavy rainfall events drive the flood risk in St. Helena Parish, supported by NOAA records of multiple hurricanes, tropical storms, and flash floods over the last thirty years. This exposure was demonstrated during the August 2016 flash flood event, when slow-moving low pressure tapped deep tropical moisture and dropped 20 to 30 inches of rain over a 48-hour period. Subsequent major tropical systems, including Hurricane Barry in July 2019, Tropical Storm Delta in October 2020, and Hurricane Ida in August 2021, have continually tested the parish with severe winds and intense precipitation.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that risk extends across multiple zones. Properties located in Zone A have recorded 38 claims with an average payout of $61,619 and an average recorded water depth of 8 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X have experienced 18 claims with an average payout of $48,605 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents working with properties in mapped high-risk areas, particularly Zone A, should pay the closest attention to these flood risks given the higher frequency of severe claims and greater average water depths. Properties in Zone X also require careful attention, as moderate-risk zones have accumulated significant historical claim activity and average water depths of 6 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of St. Helena Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
39 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 7 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 31 claims and $2.2M 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from St. Helena Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
39 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 20 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.
15 since 1996: 4 flash floods and 1 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Aug 29, 2021 | $50.0M |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2020 | $500,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Jul 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2016 | $22.6M · 2 killed |
| Flash Flood | Mar 10, 2016 | $600,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 20, 2014 | $25,000 |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Aug 28, 2012 | $4.0M |
| Flash Flood | Mar 8, 2011 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 29, 2021. The ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, Ida originated from a tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea on August 23rd. On August 26th, the wave developed into a tropical depression, which organized further and became Tropical Storm Ida later that day, near Grand Cayman. On a northwestward track, Ida intensified into a hurricane on August 27, just before…
Tropical Storm · Oct 9, 2020. Delta first developed into a tropical depression in the Caribbean just south of Jamaica on the afternoon of October 4th. As it tracked across the western Caribbean, it rapidly intensified into a Category 4 hurricane. In fact, intensifying from tropical depression to Category strength in 40 hours is the fastest rate of intensification of any storm on record in the Atlantic Basin. Delta quickly weakened to a categor…
Tropical Storm · Jul 13, 2019. Hurricane Barry initially developed from a disturbance that moved from Georgia southwest to the northeast Gulf of Mexico on July 8-9, 2019. The weak low pressure system continued to move west-southwest and strengthen, and was eventually classified as Tropical Storm Barry on the morning of July 11th, 95 miles south southeast of the Mouth of the Mississippi River.||Barry continued to move slowly west then northwest…
Flash Flood · Aug 12, 2016. A slow moving low pressure system brought widespread showers and thunderstorms to the area. The system tapped into deep tropical moisture resulting in very intense rainfall across a large portion of the area. Two-day rainfall totals of 10 inches or more were common across areas generally to the west and northwest of Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas. The heaviest rainfall occurred across a swath of East Baton Rouge…
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 St. Helena 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.