Lafayette Parish, Louisiana

What hazards hit Lafayette Parish most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 145 since 1956. 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 Lafayette Parish had?

NOAA records 42 tornadoes in Lafayette Parish from 1953 to 2018, the strongest rated F3, with 2 deaths and 41 injuries recorded in the county. That is 3rd of 64 Louisiana counties and 8th of 3,080 U.S. counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. 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 43 tornadoes whose track touched Lafayette Parish since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 42: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 2 people.

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 Lafayette Parish?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the September 17, 2025 thunderstorm wind ($50,000 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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette Parish. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Lafayette Parish

FEMA's register lists 43 declarations that include Lafayette Parish: 27 major disasters, 16 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (24) and flood (7).

The 40 most recent of 43 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 Lafayette Parish had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 63 flood or flash flood records for Lafayette Parish from 1996 to 2026, on 61 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Lafayette Parish ranks 74th of 2,942 U.S. counties. The 100 counties with the most claims

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $267 million on 6,579 claims filed in Lafayette Parish; the most in one year was 2,592 in 2016. 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 Lafayette Parish

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Lafayette Parish Relatively High overall, with an expected annual loss of $190 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 Lafayette Parish

1. St. Landry Parish 457
2. Acadia Parish 414
3. Vermilion Parish 397
4. Lafayette Parish 391
5. Iberia Parish 297
6. St. Martin Parish 239

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 Lafayette ParishThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Lafayette Parish's FEMA declarations (CSV)43 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis