8,979 flood insurance claims·$654.2M paid·27 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. John the Baptist 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.
St. John the Baptist Parish faces a flood risk profile dominated by tropical systems, storm surges, and flash flooding, supported by 17 tropical storm events, 17 storm surge and tide events, and 11 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this recurring threat, including a flash flood in January 2024 driven by a northward surge of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, and Hurricane Francine in September 2024, which brought 100 mph sustained winds, a storm surge of 6-9 feet, and 10-15 inches of torrential rainfall causing significant flash flooding.
National Flood Insurance Program records demonstrate that flood risks extend across multiple zones in the parish. Zone A accounts for 5,829 claims with an average payout of $99,604 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone X properties have also experienced substantial impacts, registering 2,189 claims with an average payout of $62,965 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches, alongside 759 claims in Zone X shaded and 74 claims in Zone X unshaded. Homeowners in Zone A and Zone X should pay the closest attention to these persistent flood and storm surge risks given the high volume of historical claims and average recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
12% of St. John the Baptist Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
6,720 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 2021, with 3,653 claims and $375.4M paid, the year of Hurricane Ida and Tropical Storm Nicholas.
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.
38 NOAA storm reports from St. John the Baptist Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
46 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 27 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.
61 since 1996: 11 flash floods, 4 river or area floods and 20 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Storm Surge/Tide | Jun 16, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 11, 2024 | $10.0M |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2024 | $1.0M |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Sep 11, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 10, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jan 8, 2024 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 3, 2022 | — |
| Storm Surge/Tide | Aug 29, 2021 | $100.0M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Storm Surge/Tide · Jun 16, 2024. As a surface ridge nearby shifted off to the northeast during the 3rd weekend of June, light and variable winds became onshore and more steady state. By June 16th, the surface ridge shifted offshore into the Atlantic Ocean and a surface low pressure was developing as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula. It was at this point that east to southeast winds increased to 15-20 knots across local coastal waters and didn't l…
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. John the Baptist 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.