FEMA Records
49
Very high volume
Louisiana · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Rapides Parish, LA
49 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 49
- FEMA declarations
- 26
- Major disasters
- 84
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Rapides Parish. Its 49 FEMA declarations are 18% above the Louisiana county mean and exceed the count for 99% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 16%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 16%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 49
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 4,231
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Fire Management Assistance (FM) records, which are not presidential disaster declarations, alongside Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records.
How does Rapides Parish compare?
Rapides Parish vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
49 Top 1% higher than 99% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-03
Rapides Parish's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Louisiana county average
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Rapides Parish is led by Riverine Flooding (about $16.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Very Low), while Lightning carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Rapides Parish's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 4,231 claims and $68.3M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $16.1K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Rapides Parish's 49 federal records stand 18% above the Louisiana county mean of 41.4. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 84.3/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $39.6M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Very High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Lightning stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 75 times per year here, based on 356,078 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 49 entries for Rapides Parish, including 26 Major Disaster records, 18% above the Louisiana county mean. Across the 61-year span, that works out to 0.8 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 23 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
78 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Rapides Parish, LA · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) Very High
30/30
49 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (2.4x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
15/25
49 declarations (1.2x state county average of 41)
Major Disaster Share High
13/25
26 of 49 declarations are major disasters (53%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
11 different disaster types declared in Rapides Parish
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Louisiana Avg
+18%
State avg: 41.4
vs. National Avg
+136%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.8
Over 61 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Rapides Parish
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
53%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
84
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Rapides Parish?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 75 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Moderate | 11 modeled event-days per year |
| Drought | Relatively High | 28 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 10 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.4 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | roughly once every 651 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.6 times per year |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 958 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.9 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Hail | Relatively Low | an average of 2 times per year |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 23
Flood 10
Coastal Storm 3
Severe Storm 3
Fire 2
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Other 1
Tornado 1
Snowstorm 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Rapides Parish's federal record, 47% of its declarations. Atlantic tropical systems run on a defined season, 1 June to 30 November, with most activity concentrated between August and October; Pacific and territorial basins run on their own calendars. A single named storm routinely produces one declaration number covering a long corridor of counties at once, well inland as well as on the coast, which is why an affected county's count can jump by several in one year without several separate events having occurred.
One practical distinction matters when reading these records: a tropical declaration usually bundles wind, storm surge and inland rainfall flooding under a single incident, but the insurance behind them is split. Wind damage falls to property insurers, while flood and surge damage is covered only under a separate National Flood Insurance Program policy. That is why a county can show heavy declaration activity and a comparatively small NFIP claims record, or the reverse.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 26 53.1%
of all 49 declarations
Emergency - 21 42.9%
of all 49 declarations
Fire Management - 2 4.1%
of all 49 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 8 | |
| 2020 | 6 | |
| 2019 | 3 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 1 | |
| 2005 | 4 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
Show 12 earlier declaration years
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 2 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1988 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 1 | |
| 1979 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1975 | 2 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 49 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 49 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3638 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Winter Storm | 2026-01-24 |
| 3614 | TROPICAL STORM FRANCINE | EM | Hurricane | 2024-09-10 |
| 5486 | HIGHWAY 113 FIRE | FM | Fire | 2023-08-30 |
| 3574 | TROPICAL STORM NICHOLAS | EM | Coastal Storm | 2021-09-13 |
| 4611 | HURRICANE IDA | DR | Hurricane | 2021-08-29 |
| 3568 | TROPICAL STORM IDA | EM | Hurricane | 2021-08-27 |
| 4590 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-03-09 |
| 3556 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-18 |
| 3549 | TROPICAL STORM ZETA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-10-27 |
| 4570 | HURRICANE DELTA | DR | Hurricane | 2020-10-16 |
| 3547 | HURRICANE DELTA | EM | Hurricane | 2020-10-07 |
| 3543 | HURRICANE SALLY | EM | Hurricane | 2020-09-14 |
| 4559 | HURRICANE LAURA | DR | Hurricane | 2020-08-28 |
| 3538 | TROPICAL STORMS LAURA AND MARCO | EM | Hurricane | 2020-08-23 |
| 3527 | TROPICAL STORM CRISTOBAL | EM | Coastal Storm | 2020-06-07 |
| 4484 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-03-24 |
| 3459 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4462 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2019-09-19 |
| 3416 | TROPICAL STORM BARRY | EM | Coastal Storm | 2019-07-11 |
| 3413 | FLOODING | EM | Flood | 2019-05-29 |
Show 29 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4345 | TROPICAL STORM HARVEY | DR | Hurricane | 2017-10-16 |
| 3382 | TROPICAL STORM HARVEY | EM | Hurricane | 2017-08-28 |
| 4263 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-03-13 |
| 4228 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2015-07-13 |
| 4080 | HURRICANE ISAAC | DR | Hurricane | 2012-08-29 |
| 3347 | TROPICAL STORM ISAAC | EM | Hurricane | 2012-08-27 |
| 1786 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | DR | Hurricane | 2008-09-02 |
| 3289 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-29 |
| 1668 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2006-11-02 |
| 1607 | HURRICANE RITA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-09-24 |
| 3260 | HURRICANE RITA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-21 |
| 1603 | HURRICANE KATRINA | DR | Hurricane | 2005-08-29 |
| 3212 | HURRICANE KATRINA | EM | Hurricane | 2005-08-27 |
| 1548 | HURRICANE IVAN | DR | Hurricane | 2004-09-15 |
| 3172 | LOSS OF SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA | EM | Other | 2003-02-01 |
| 1437 | HURRICANE LILI | DR | Hurricane | 2002-10-03 |
| 2337 | LA-WESTERN LOUISIANA FIRE COMPLEX-9/8/00 | FM | Fire | 2000-09-11 |
| 956 | HURRICANE ANDREW | DR | Hurricane | 1992-08-26 |
| 904 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1991-05-03 |
| 902 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1991-04-23 |
| 835 | TROPICAL STORM ALLISON | DR | Flood | 1989-07-17 |
| 804 | TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Tornado | 1987-11-30 |
| 675 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1983-01-11 |
| 604 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1979-09-25 |
| 3031 | DROUGHT & FREEZING | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-02-22 |
| 470 | HEAVY RAINS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1975-06-06 |
| 3011 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | EM | Flood | 1975-04-12 |
| 374 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-04-27 |
| 208 | HURRICANE BETSY | DR | Hurricane | 1965-09-10 |
Storm Events in Louisiana
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Rapides Parish.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 3,274 | 12 | 29 | $24.9M |
| Flash Flood | 1,516 | 20 | 17 | $3.9B |
| Hail | 1,224 | 0 | 0 | $49.3M |
| Excessive Heat | 1,183 | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| Heat | 1,106 | 5 | 0 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
4,231
Total Paid
$68.3M
Avg Per Claim
$16.1K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 84.3/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$39.6M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Lightning Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Heat Wave Relatively Moderate
Drought Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Relatively Low
Strong Wind Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively Moderate
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Landslide Very Low
Hail Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Lightning
Lightning is modeled as a high-frequency, low-per-event hazard: strike counts are large, but each strike affects a very small area. Its aggregate cost accumulates through structure fires, electrical and electronic damage, and it is one of the few hazards whose risk is essentially continuous through the season rather than episodic.
Worth noting for Rapides Parish: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Lightning carries the highest modeled rating (Relatively High), while the county's declaration history is led by Hurricane. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Rapides Parish's closest FEMA peer: San Diego County, CA
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Rapides Parish. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Rapides Parish shows 49 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Rapides Parish: 26 of 49 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Rapides Parish: NRI composite 84.3 (Relatively Moderate).
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Rapides Parish - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Rapides Parish's NFIP claims file (4,231 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Rapides Parish?
The most common disaster type in Rapides Parish is Hurricane, with 23 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (10), Coastal Storm (3), Severe Storm (3).
How does Rapides Parish's FEMA declaration record compare with the Louisiana average?
FEMA lists 49 declaration records for Rapides Parish. That is 18% above the Louisiana county mean of 41.4. Its count is also 136% above the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Rapides Parish received?
Rapides Parish has received 26 major disaster declarations, representing 53% of all 49 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Rapides Parish filed?
Rapides Parish has 4,231 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $68.3M in payments, with an average of $16.1K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Rapides Parish?
No. In Rapides Parish, Lightning has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $16.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Rapides Parish?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Rapides Parish was 2021, with 8 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Rapides Parish?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Rapides Parish, Louisiana has an overall risk score of 84.3 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $39.6M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Rapides Parish?
The top hazard flagged by FEMA's NRI for Rapides Parish as of the latest release is Lightning (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Cold Wave (Relatively High) and Heat Wave (Relatively Moderate). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts lightning here at an average of 75 times per year, drawn from 356,078 historical events on record. FEMA derives these ratings from historical event frequency, the assets exposed, and the community's vulnerability profile.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
What this means for Rapides Parish
Rapides Parish, LA has 49 federal declaration records, 18% more than the Louisiana county mean of 41; its history sits in PlainHazard's high activity band.
- Within this above-state-average declaration file, major disaster leads with 26 of 49 records; the category describes past federal action, not the next likely hazard. Louisiana overview
- The state benchmark and national rank point the same way: this count tops the Louisiana mean and the totals for 99% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- The large NFIP claims file and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records; the guide explains where they overlap and where they do not. Disaster-data guide
An above-average declaration count records past federal responses; it does not predict the next event. Current warnings come from the National Weather Service and local emergency officials.
PlainHazard derives this profile from FEMA's Disaster Declarations Summaries and National Risk Index data. The declaration comparison covers 3,266 U.S. counties and county equivalents in this database, refreshed as of 2026-08-03. Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FEMA OpenFEMA, Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 - all federally-declared disasters for this county. fema.gov/openfema/disaster-declarations
- FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) - per-county per-hazard risk ratings and expected annual loss. hazards.fema.gov/nri
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database - state-level storm/severe-weather event records, 2015-2025. ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents
Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainHazard Editorial
Verify with FEMA → · Verify with FEMA NRI → · Verify with NOAA →
Every figure on PlainHazard is rendered directly from FEMA federal disaster data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or national statistics report, the data & editorial changelog, or report a data error.