Lafourche Parish, Louisiana: hazard history
What federal records show has already happened here: disaster declarations, storms, and flood insurance claims. This is a record of the past. It is not a forecast and not a hazard score.
At a glance
What this means
- The event NOAA recorded most often here is Thunderstorm Wind, with 73 records.
- The costliest single record is Hurricane (Typhoon) in 2021: $750.0M in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Tornado in 1998, with 1 death.
- FEMA has declared 54 disasters that named this county, most often for hurricane.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 1985, with 1,164 claims.
What this can't tell you
- What happens next. Past events do not set the odds of the next one.
- Anything before 1996 from NOAA. That is when NOAA began recording every event type; earlier files hold only tornado, hail and wind, so they are left out on purpose.
- Today's cost. Damage and payments are in the dollars of the year they happened.
- A flood rate. NFIP counts claims but not how many homes were insured, and many flooded homes carry no flood insurance.
- Earthquakes, wildfire perimeters or radar-detected hail. Those records are not tied to counties.
Federal disaster declarations (FEMA)
FEMA declared 54 disasters that named Lafourche Parish between 1965 and 2026.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | 31 | 2024 |
| Flood | 7 | 2021 |
| Coastal Storm | 5 | 2021 |
| Severe Storm | 3 | 2005 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Severe Ice Storm | 2 | 2021 |
| Other | 1 | 2003 |
| Snowstorm | 1 | 1977 |
| Tropical Storm | 1 | 2026 |
| Winter Storm | 1 | 2026 |
Most recent declarations
- DR-4927 2026 · Tropical Storm · Tropical Storm Arthur
- EM-3638 2026 · Winter Storm · Severe Winter Storm
- EM-3614 2024 · Hurricane · Tropical Storm Francine
- DR-4817 2024 · Hurricane · Hurricane Francine
- EM-3574 2021 · Coastal Storm · Tropical Storm Nicholas
- EM-3568 2021 · Hurricane · Tropical Storm Ida
- DR-4611 2021 · Hurricane · Hurricane Ida
- DR-4606 2021 · Flood · Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding
- EM-3556 2021 · Severe Ice Storm · Severe Winter Storm
- DR-4590 2021 · Severe Ice Storm · Severe Winter Storms
Not counted above: 7 statewide declarations, which covered every county in Louisiana. A declaration is a decision to send federal help, not a measure of how bad an event was. Records run from 1953. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries.
Storms recorded by NOAA, by type
| Event type | Records | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 73 | 1 | 0 | $587K |
| Excessive Heat | 42 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Hail | 28 | 0 | 0 | $500 |
| Storm Surge/Tide | 27 | 0 | 0 | $1.6B |
| Tropical Storm | 25 | 0 | 0 | $23.3M |
| Flash Flood | 21 | 1 | 0 | $7.7M |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | 21 | 0 | 0 | $1.7B |
| Tornado | 21 | 1 | 13 | $1.5M |
| Drought | 19 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Funnel Cloud | 8 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Lightning | 6 | 1 | 2 | $245K |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 5 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Weather | 5 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Coastal Flood | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flood | 4 | 0 | 0 | $40K |
| Heavy Rain | 4 | 0 | 0 | $25K |
| Heavy Snow | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 3 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tropical Depression | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Rip Current | 1 | 1 | 2 | $0 |
| Strong Wind | 1 | 0 | 0 | $2K |
Records start in 1996. Damage is NOAA's estimate at the time, in nominal dollars, and is often rounded; it is not insurance claims data. A storm that crossed two NOAA zones in this county is recorded, and counted, once per zone.
Year by year
NOAA storm event records in Lafourche Parish each year. The busiest year was 2023, with 58 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 10 | 0 | $500 |
| 1997 | 11 | 0 | $110K |
| 1998 | 17 | 1 | $1.4M |
| 1999 | 13 | 1 | $905K |
| 2000 | 10 | 0 | $55K |
| 2001 | 11 | 0 | $2.7M |
| 2002 | 16 | 1 | $23.9M |
| 2003 | 7 | 0 | $4.5M |
| 2004 | 16 | 0 | $495K |
| 2005 | 20 | 0 | $372.7M |
| 2006 | 7 | 0 | $110K |
| 2007 | 3 | 0 | $82K |
| 2008 | 18 | 0 | $23.4M |
| 2009 | 8 | 0 | $58K |
| 2010 | 5 | 0 | $81K |
| 2011 | 6 | 0 | $90K |
| 2012 | 7 | 0 | $19.7M |
| 2013 | 5 | 0 | $78K |
| 2014 | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| 2015 | 6 | 1 | $2K |
| 2016 | 11 | 1 | $0 |
| 2017 | 8 | 0 | $0 |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| 2019 | 6 | 0 | $0 |
| 2020 | 8 | 0 | $76.0M |
| 2021 | 10 | 0 | $2.8B |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | $1K |
| 2023 | 58 | 0 | $0 |
| 2024 | 12 | 0 | $24.5M |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | $0 |
| 2026 | 6 | 0 | $250K |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 29, 2021$750.0MNOAA name: UPPER LAFOURCHE · NOAA record 978969
- Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 29, 2021$750.0MNOAA name: LOWER LAFOURCHE · NOAA record 978970
- Storm Surge/Tide · Aug 29, 2021$750.0MNOAA name: LOWER LAFOURCHE · NOAA record 978972
- Storm Surge/Tide · Aug 29, 2021$500.0MNOAA name: UPPER LAFOURCHE · NOAA record 978971
- Storm Surge/Tide · Aug 29, 2005$151.5MNOAA name: LOWER LAFOURCHE · NOAA record 5475647
Deadliest records
- Tornado · Sep 10, 19981 deathNOAA name: LAFOURCHE · $500K damage · 6 injuries · NOAA record 5670013
- Thunderstorm Wind · Aug 14, 19991 deathNOAA name: LAFOURCHE · $20K damage · NOAA record 5718762
- Rip Current · Sep 22, 20021 deathNOAA name: LAFOURCHE · 2 injuries · NOAA record 5320805
- Flash Flood · Apr 14, 20151 deathNOAA name: LAFOURCHE · NOAA record 564008
- Lightning · Mar 18, 20161 deathNOAA name: LAFOURCHE · 2 injuries · NOAA record 617774
Each line is one NOAA record, linked to its page at NOAA. One large storm can appear more than once if NOAA recorded it in several zones of this county. Dollars are nominal.
Flood insurance claims (NFIP)
The National Flood Insurance Program paid $98.8M on 6,101 claims in Lafourche Parish from 1978 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 1,164 | $13.6M |
| 2008 | 860 | $11.8M |
| 2005 | 712 | $10.6M |
| 2021 | 628 | $26.8M |
| 2001 | 526 | $10.4M |
A count of claims, not a rate: NFIP publishes no count of insured homes beside it, and most flood damage is uninsured. Nominal dollars. Records run from 1978 to 2024; claims filed without a county code are not on any county page. Source: FEMA OpenFEMA FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims.
Hazard vulnerability analysis: the probability column for a facility in Lafourche Parish
A hazard vulnerability analysis rates each hazard for probability, impact, preparedness and response. Probability is the one column the county’s federal record can fill — NCEI storm events from 1996 to 2026 and FEMA declarations naming the county — and this is what it says for a facility here, on the 0–3 scale of the all-hazards structure surveyors expect. The other six columns are the facility’s own judgment about its building, and Calchis leaves them blank.
| Hazard | Prob. | Basis, from the county record |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane / Tropical Storm | 3 | 75 NCEI events over 31 years (2.42/yr). 37 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 107 NCEI events over 31 years (3.45/yr). 3 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 33 NCEI events over 31 years (1.06/yr). 7 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 3 | 11 NCEI events over 31 years (0.35/yr). 3 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 3 | 50 NCEI events over 31 years (1.61/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tornado | 2 | 21 NCEI events over 31 years (0.68/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Drought | 2 | 19 NCEI events over 31 years (0.61/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Epidemic | 2 | 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Wild Fire | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 1 | 3 NCEI events over 31 years (0.10/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Earthquake | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Landslide | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tidal Wave / Tsunami | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Volcano | 1 | No events of this kind on the county's NCEI record over 31 years. No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Dam Inundation | 1 | No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
A dash means the record does not speak to that hazard; it is not a zero. Whether a finished document satisfies the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule is the facility’s finding and its surveyor’s. Complete the HVA for a facility in Lafourche Parish — the technological, human and hazardous-materials rows, the six facility columns, the approval and the printed document — or read the sample analysis on that page first.
How this page was made
- Every figure is counted from public federal records held by Calchis: NOAA NCEI Storm Events, FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations, and FEMA NFIP claims. Nothing is modeled or estimated.
- NOAA files some events by county and others by forecast zone, and names both. Records are counted as Lafourche Parish when their NOAA name is this county's name, alone or with a word like “Coastal” or “Inland” in front. The county codes NOAA also publishes have not been loaded for Louisiana yet; when they are, this page will count by code instead, and some counties' records will grow. NOAA names counted here: LAFOURCHE, LOWER LAFOURCHE, UPPER LAFOURCHE. Zones named for something else, such as a mountain range or two counties at once, are left out: 0% of Louisiana's NOAA records.
- Counts last rebuilt from the source records on Sep 15, 2026.
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Recorded history from federal public records. Not a hazard score, a risk score, or a forecast, and not a substitute for professional actuarial or emergency-management assessment. Decision-support intelligence — not a primary alerting or dispatch system. Verify against official sources.