285 flood insurance claims·$7.4M paid·20 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 West Baton Rouge 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.
West Baton Rouge Parish experiences a flood risk profile dominated by flash floods, tropical storms, and hurricanes. Over the past 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database records 10 flash flood events resulting in 1 death, alongside 7 tropical storms, 5 hurricanes, 2 general floods, and 1 tropical depression.
Severe storms frequently cause localized impacts, as demonstrated on April 24, 2025, when a stalled mesoscale convective vortex produced slow-moving and training cells over Addis, Brusly, and Plaquemine. This event caused significant flash flooding that rendered many streets impassable and allowed water to enter some buildings.
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood claims occur across multiple zones, with the highest claim counts and average payout amounts appearing in moderate-to-low and high-risk areas. Specifically, Zone X recorded 145 claims with an average payout of $55,767 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches, while Zone A recorded 40 claims with an average payout of $24,570 and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED logged 63 claims averaging $10,436 with an average depth of 1 inch. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 35 claims averaging $4,061 with an average depth of 2 inches, and Zone V logged 2 claims averaging $11,049 with an average depth of 4 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone X and Zone A should pay close attention to these historical claim patterns and average water depths when evaluating property risk.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
60% of West Baton Rouge Parish’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
105 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 4 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 1980, with 34 claims and $84,215 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.
20 NOAA storm reports from West Baton Rouge Parish describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Louisiana flood stories →
38 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 20 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.
25 since 1996: 10 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 24, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 24, 2025 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Sep 11, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | Aug 29, 2021 | $10.0M |
| Flash Flood | May 17, 2021 | — · 1 killed |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 9, 2020 | $10.0M |
| Tropical Storm | Jul 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2016 | $1.3M |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 24, 2025. On the morning of April 24th, a remnant mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) that originated off the southeast Texas coast drifted along the northern Gulf and eventually stalled near the Baton Rouge metro area. The first storms developed on the west side of the Mississippi River over Addis, Brusly, and Plaquemine, where slow-moving and training cells led to significant flash flooding, rendering many streets impassabl…
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…
Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 29, 2021. The ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, Ida originated from a tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea on August 23rd. On August 26th, the wave developed into a tropical depression, which organized further and became Tropical Storm Ida later that day, near Grand Cayman. On a northwestward track, Ida intensified into a hurricane on August 27, just before…
Flash Flood · May 17, 2021. In the overnight hours on May 17th into the early morning on May 18th, a cluster of slow moving severe thunderstorms associated with a weak mid-level disturbance drifted east across southeastern Louisiana. Ample overnight instability and weak steering flow resulted in damaging wind gusts, flash flooding and a few isolated weak tornadoes.
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 West Baton Rouge 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.