342 flood insurance claims·$7.5M 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 St. James 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, tropical storms, and hurricanes drive the flood risk in St. James Parish, supported by 12 flash flood, 8 tropical storm, 7 flood, and 5 hurricane events recorded over the last 30 years. Recent weather events highlight this vulnerability, including heavy rainfall from a stalled frontal boundary in January 2024 and Hurricane Francine in September 2024, which brought a Category 2 landfall with 100 mph winds, 6 to 9 feet of storm surge, and 10 to 15 inches of torrential rainfall causing significant flash flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with the highest volume occurring in Zone X with 212 claims averaging a $36,318 payout and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Zone A accounts for 80 claims with an average payout of $14,370 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches, while Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 37 claims averaging a $21,891 payout with an average water depth of 2 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 12 claims averaging a $7,843 payout with a 2-inch average water depth, and Zone X_SHADED recorded 1 claim with a $0 average payout and 0 inches of recorded water depth. Property owners in Zone X and Zone A should pay the closest attention to these historical claim and depth patterns.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
32% of St. James Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
118 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 6 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 2014, with 73 claims and $3.5M paid.
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.
25 NOAA storm reports from St. James Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
44 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 |
| 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.
38 since 1996: 12 flash floods, 7 river or area floods and 5 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jan 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 11, 2024 | $18.0M |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2024 | $1.0M |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Sep 11, 2024 | — |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Aug 29, 2021 | $250.0M · 1 killed |
| Coastal Flood | May 19, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 28, 2020 | $5.0M |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2020 | $1.0M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jan 24, 2024. For the second time in January, near record atmospheric levels of moisture, for January, was in place across southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana. Low level convergence aided in the formation of a weak stalled frontal boundary, which became the focus for widespread showers and thunderstorms. Strong diffluence aloft from an approaching upper level jet enhanced storms that did develop. The combo of more than…
Flash Flood · 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…
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…
Storm Surge/Tide · 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 St. James 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.