976 flood insurance claims·$22.2M paid·26 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. Landry 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 stalled frontal systems dominates the flood history of St. Landry Parish, accounting for 36 of the 54 total flood events recorded over the last 30 years by the NOAA Storm Events Database. General floods, tropical storms, and hurricanes make up the remainder of the recorded event mix. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including heavy rainfall from a slow-moving storm system in January 2024, multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms producing flooding between May 12 and May 16, 2024, and moisture streaming north from decaying Tropical Storm Rafael in November 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with Zone A recording 522 claims averaging $27,700 with an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone X accounts for 218 claims with an average payout of $37,513 and an average water depth of 5 inches, while unshaded Zone X records 148 claims averaging $28,546 with an average water depth of 8 inches. Zone UNKNOWN and Zone V recorded smaller numbers of claims with lower average water depths. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A and Zone X, where the vast majority of historical claims are concentrated, should pay the closest attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
23% of St. Landry Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
687 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 2016, with 305 claims and $12.0M 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.
17 NOAA storm reports from St. Landry Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
45 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 26 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 |
| Hurricane Zeta | Oct 26, 2020 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
54 since 1996: 36 flash floods and 10 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 6, 2025 | $3,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jan 24, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Nov 13, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 13, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 5, 2023 | $1,000 |
| Flood | Dec 30, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 3, 2022 | $10,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 26, 2020 | $40.0M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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 · Jan 24, 2024. A slow moving storm system affected Central and South Louisiana with multiple days of heavy rain and a few severe storms.
Flash Flood · Nov 13, 2024. A frontal boundary moved into the region and stalled while Tropical Storm Rafael meandered in the gulf. Moisture from the decaying tropical cyclone streamed north across Louisiana. This produced heavy rain over the area that produced flooding.
Flash Flood · May 13, 2024. Multiple upper disturbances moved across the region from the 12th through the 16th causing a rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms which produced numerous reports of damage, flooding, and high winds.
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. Landry 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.