Catahoula Parish, Louisiana

What hazards hit Catahoula Parish most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 187 since 1963. The rank column places the county among Louisiana's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Catahoula Parish had?

NOAA records 37 tornadoes in Catahoula Parish from 1950 to 2020, the strongest rated F3, with 1 death and 12 injuries recorded in the county. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 34 tornadoes whose track touched Catahoula Parish since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 37: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 1 person.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Louisiana.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Catahoula Parish?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 9, 2026 thunderstorm wind ($10,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Catahoula Parish's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

Records by month in Catahoula Parish. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Catahoula Parish

FEMA's register lists 45 declarations that include Catahoula Parish: 27 major disasters, 18 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (18) and flood (11).

The 40 most recent of 45 are listed; the CSV has every one.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Catahoula Parish had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 30 flood or flash flood records for Catahoula Parish from 2001 to 2022, on 22 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Catahoula Parish ranks 228th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $14.7 million on 1,627 claims filed in Catahoula Parish; the most in one year was 572 in 1991. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Catahoula Parish

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Catahoula Parish Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $4.0 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Catahoula Parish

1. Franklin Parish 518
2. Caldwell Parish 421
3. LaSalle Parish 415
4. Catahoula Parish 376
5. Avoyelles Parish 367
6. Tensas Parish 367
7. Concordia Parish 363

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in LouisianaEvery Louisiana tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in LouisianaThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Louisiana recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Catahoula ParishThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Catahoula Parish's FEMA declarations (CSV)45 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis