674 flood insurance claims·$15.5M paid·24 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 Washington 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 and tropical systems dominate the flood risk in Washington Parish, with NOAA records showing 19 flash flood events, 7 hurricanes, and 4 tropical storms over the last 30 years.
Recent weather highlights the local vulnerability to these hazards. On September 11, 2024, Tropical Storm Francine brought torrential rainfall of 10 to 15 inches and significant flash flooding after making landfall. Earlier, on March 8, 2024, a stalled frontal boundary and warm front lifted ample moisture across the region, producing numerous thunderstorms that congealed into a line and caused flash flooding.
Property owners should evaluate their specific flood zone designations and historical payout data. NFIP records show that Zone A properties experienced the highest impact with 394 claims, an average payout of $31,331, and an average recorded water depth of 14 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties recorded 165 claims with an average payout of $34,744 and an average water depth of 4 inches, indicating that properties outside mapped high-risk zones also sustain significant flood damage.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Washington Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
398 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 10 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 178 claims and $8.0M 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.
20 NOAA storm reports from Washington Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
41 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 24 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.
36 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 5 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 8, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Dec 14, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 3, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 3, 2022 | $30,000 |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Aug 29, 2021 | $10.0M |
| Flash Flood | Oct 27, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 15, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Flash Flood · Mar 8, 2024. A stalled frontal boundary draped across the local area began to surge northward as cyclogenesis began along the southwest LA coastline. Ample moisture being lifted by this warm front resulted in numerous shower and thunderstorm development. Discrete storms began to congeal into a line of storms which resulted in flash flooding in Washington Parish.
Flash Flood · Dec 14, 2022. A strong upper level disturbance and surface low produced several supercell thunderstorms with embedded tornadoes across Southeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi during the late afternoon and evening hours of Wednesday December 14, 2022. These supercell thunderstorms produced straight line wind damage and a several tornadoes in the area. Two EF-2 tornados impacted portions of the New Orleans metro area in St.…
Flash Flood · Feb 3, 2022. A cold front moving through the local area began to slow down its eastward progression as it reached southeast Louisiana. Thunderstorms along the boundary started training over the same areas due to the slowing down of the cold front. This resulted in multiple areas of flash flooding across the region. Property damage was fairly minimal but dozens of streets across different cities became impassable.
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 Washington 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.