1,466 flood insurance claims·$28.2M paid·34 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. Martin 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 from slow-moving weather systems and severe thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of St. Martin Parish, supported by frequent tropical storm and hurricane impacts over the last 30 years. NOAA records document persistent heavy rainfall events across the region, including a stalled cold front in April 2025 that caused multiple days of flooding, and an inverted trough along the coast in June 2025 that brought multi-day heavy rain and thunderstorms.
Federal insurance data shows that flood risks extend beyond high-risk areas, with claims filed across multiple flood zones. Zone A accounts for the highest volume with 900 claims averaging a $14,100 payout and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties experienced 335 claims with an average payout of $48,415 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches, while unshaded Zone X properties recorded 114 claims averaging a $28,941 payout with an average water depth of 3 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within high-risk Zone A, where the highest volume of historical flood claims has occurred, as well as properties in Zone X designations that have experienced substantial average payouts despite being outside traditional high-risk zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
13% of St. Martin Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,038 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 323 claims and $13.0M 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.
28 NOAA storm reports from St. Martin Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
54 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 34 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.
62 since 1996: 31 flash floods, 7 river or area floods and 1 coastal floods or surges.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 31, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 29, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 24, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 13, 2025 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2024 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jun 1, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 3, 2022 | $5,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 29, 2021 | $200,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Mar 31, 2025. A series of upper disturbances and a slow moving cold front created multiple days of stormy weather across portions of Louisiana. Severe weather and flooding occurred.
Flash Flood · Mar 29, 2025. A series of upper disturbances and a slow moving cold front created multiple days of stormy weather across portions of Louisiana. Severe weather and flooding occurred.
Flash Flood · Apr 24, 2025. A cold front moved into the region and stalled late in April producing a few days of rain. Flooding occurred at multiple locations and severe storms also developed as a result.
Flash Flood · Jun 13, 2025. An inverted trough moved slowly along the coast of Louisiana increasing moisture which caused heavy rain and thunderstorms over multiple days.
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. Martin 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.