Orleans 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 Flash Flood, with 198 records.
- The costliest single record is Storm Surge/Tide in 2005: $17.9B in property damage, in the dollars of that year.
- The deadliest record is Hurricane (Typhoon) in 2005, with 638 deaths.
- FEMA has declared 39 disasters that named this county, most often for hurricane.
- The worst year for flood insurance claims was 2005, with 71,538 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 39 disasters that named Orleans Parish between 1998 and 2026.
| Incident type | Disasters | Most recent |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | 26 | 2024 |
| Coastal Storm | 4 | 2021 |
| Biological | 2 | 2020 |
| Other | 2 | 2023 |
| Severe Ice Storm | 2 | 2021 |
| Severe Storm | 1 | 2007 |
| Tornado | 1 | 2017 |
| Winter Storm | 1 | 2026 |
Most recent declarations
- EM-3638 2026 · Winter Storm · Severe Winter Storm
- EM-3614 2024 · Hurricane · Tropical Storm Francine
- DR-4817 2024 · Hurricane · Hurricane Francine
- EM-3600 2023 · Other · Seawater Intrusion
- EM-3574 2021 · Coastal Storm · Tropical Storm Nicholas
- DR-4611 2021 · Hurricane · Hurricane Ida
- EM-3568 2021 · Hurricane · Tropical Storm Ida
- DR-4590 2021 · Severe Ice Storm · Severe Winter Storms
- EM-3556 2021 · Severe Ice Storm · Severe Winter Storm
- DR-4577 2020 · Hurricane · Hurricane Zeta
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | 198 | 2 | 1 | $6.7M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 99 | 0 | 1 | $523K |
| Excessive Heat | 51 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Storm Surge/Tide | 22 | 0 | 0 | $18.0B |
| Hail | 21 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tropical Storm | 20 | 0 | 0 | $12.9M |
| Drought | 16 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Flood | 13 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Tornado | 13 | 1 | 64 | $55.3M |
| Hurricane (Typhoon) | 11 | 651 | 1 | $4.4B |
| Lightning | 8 | 3 | 0 | $220K |
| Heavy Rain | 6 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| High Wind | 6 | 0 | 0 | $31K |
| Coastal Flood | 4 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Extreme Cold/Wind Chill | 4 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Weather | 4 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Cold/Wind Chill | 3 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Heat | 3 | 2 | 2 | $0 |
| Heavy Snow | 3 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Dense Fog | 2 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Funnel Cloud | 2 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Strong Wind | 1 | 0 | 0 | $5K |
| Tropical Depression | 1 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Winter Storm | 1 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
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 Orleans Parish each year. The busiest year was 2023, with 85 records.
Show the numbers for every year
| Year | Records | Deaths | Property damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 10 | 1 | $0 |
| 1997 | 7 | 0 | $51K |
| 1998 | 16 | 0 | $10.4M |
| 1999 | 4 | 0 | $51K |
| 2000 | 14 | 4 | $72K |
| 2001 | 7 | 0 | $90K |
| 2002 | 16 | 0 | $12.0M |
| 2003 | 10 | 0 | $2.4M |
| 2004 | 12 | 0 | $670K |
| 2005 | 11 | 638 | $21.5B |
| 2006 | 4 | 0 | $501K |
| 2007 | 7 | 1 | $3.1M |
| 2008 | 14 | 2 | $7.0M |
| 2009 | 8 | 1 | $8K |
| 2010 | 7 | 0 | $87K |
| 2011 | 8 | 2 | $35K |
| 2012 | 10 | 0 | $89.4M |
| 2013 | 8 | 0 | $141K |
| 2014 | 5 | 0 | $0 |
| 2015 | 7 | 0 | $0 |
| 2016 | 4 | 0 | $110K |
| 2017 | 11 | 0 | $5.0M |
| 2018 | 12 | 1 | $53K |
| 2019 | 7 | 0 | $300K |
| 2020 | 15 | 1 | $50.1M |
| 2021 | 26 | 13 | $801.0M |
| 2022 | 34 | 0 | $51.6M |
| 2023 | 85 | 0 | $33K |
| 2024 | 52 | 0 | $1.0M |
| 2025 | 71 | 3 | $24K |
| 2026 | 10 | 0 | $0 |
Years with no record are left out of the table, not shown as zero.
Notable events
Costliest records
- Storm Surge/Tide · Aug 29, 2005$17.9BNOAA name: ORLEANS · NOAA record 5475650
- Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 28, 2005$3.6BNOAA name: ORLEANS · 638 deaths · NOAA record 5475622
- Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 29, 2021$500.0MNOAA name: WESTERN ORLEANS PARISH · 12 deaths · NOAA record 978980
- Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 29, 2021$300.0MNOAA name: EASTERN ORLEANS PARISH · NOAA record 978981
- Storm Surge/Tide · Aug 28, 2012$62.5MNOAA name: ORLEANS · NOAA record 410095
Deadliest records
- Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 28, 2005638 deathsNOAA name: ORLEANS · $3.6B damage · NOAA record 5475622
- Hurricane (Typhoon) · Aug 29, 202112 deathsNOAA name: WESTERN ORLEANS PARISH · $500.0M damage · NOAA record 978980
- Lightning · Jun 4, 20002 deathsNOAA name: ORLEANS · NOAA record 5152787
- Cold/Wind Chill · Jan 3, 20082 deathsNOAA name: ORLEANS · NOAA record 78998
- Dense Fog · Dec 29, 20112 deathsNOAA name: ORLEANS · NOAA record 352910
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 $7.2B on 127,069 claims in Orleans Parish from 1978 to 2024.
| Year | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 71,538 | $6.7B |
| 1995 | 13,842 | $160.6M |
| 1983 | 5,521 | $25.7M |
| 1980 | 5,362 | $25.7M |
| 1998 | 4,204 | $36.1M |
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 Orleans 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 | 54 NCEI events over 31 years (1.74/yr). 30 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Severe Thunderstorm | 3 | 128 NCEI events over 31 years (4.13/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Flood, External | 3 | 221 NCEI events over 31 years (7.13/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Temperature Extremes | 3 | 61 NCEI events over 31 years (1.97/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| Tornado | 2 | 13 NCEI events over 31 years (0.42/yr). 1 federal disaster declaration naming the county. |
| Snow Fall / Blizzard / Ice Storm | 2 | 8 NCEI events over 31 years (0.26/yr). 2 federal disaster declarations naming the county. |
| Drought | 2 | 16 NCEI events over 31 years (0.52/yr). No federal disaster declaration of this kind has named the county. |
| High Wind (non-convective) | 2 | 7 NCEI events over 31 years (0.23/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. |
| 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 Orleans 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 Orleans 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: EASTERN ORLEANS PARISH, ORLEANS, WESTERN ORLEANS PARISH. 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.