FEMA Records
44
Very high volume
Louisiana · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
St. James Parish, LA
44 FEMA disaster declarations (1965-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Low. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 44
- FEMA declarations
- 25
- Major disasters
- 71
- NRI risk · Relatively Low
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for St. James Parish. Its 44 FEMA declarations are 6% above the Louisiana county mean and exceed the count for 98% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 29%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 29%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Low
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 44
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 342
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records; an EM authorizes a narrower set of federal assistance than a DR.
How does St. James Parish compare?
St. James Parish vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
44 Top 2% higher than 98% 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
St. James Parish's FEMA Risk Index score
FEMA National Risk Index composite score vs. the Louisiana county average
What does St. James Parish's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
The NFIP claims register shows a middle-volume loss record here: 342 paid claims, totaling $7.5M. PlainHazard uses 50-499 claims for this descriptive band; FEMA does not publish it as a safety or coverage category. The $22.0K average describes payments on recorded claims only, leaving uninsured damage and properties without a claim outside the measure.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. St. James Parish's 44 federal records stand 6% 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 carries a high composite score on FEMA's National Risk Index, 71.0/100, rated Relatively Low. Its Expected Annual Loss rating is Relatively Low (roughly $22.9M in annualized losses), and a Relatively High social-vulnerability profile combined with Very High community resilience shapes how much of that raw exposure becomes realized harm. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Hurricane stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at roughly once every 4 years here, based on 75 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 44 entries for St. James Parish, including 25 Major Disaster records, 6% above the Louisiana county mean. Across the 61-year span, that works out to 0.7 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 27 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
77 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
St. James 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
44 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (2.1x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
13/25
44 declarations (1.1x state county average of 41)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
25 of 44 declarations are major disasters (57%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
8 different disaster types declared in St. James Parish
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Louisiana Avg
+6%
State avg: 41.4
vs. National Avg
+112%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.7
Over 61 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - St. James 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
57%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
71
Relatively Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike St. James 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 4 years |
| Drought | Relatively High | 22 modeled event-days per year |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 3.8 times per year |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 6 years |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 15 modeled event-days per year |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | an average of 88 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hail | Very Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,225 years |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Low | roughly once every 5 years |
| Riverine Flooding | Very Low | roughly once every 2 years |
| Strong Wind | Relatively Low | an average of 1.2 times per year |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 29 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 26,900 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 27
Flood 5
Coastal Storm 4
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Severe Storm 2
Winter Storm 1
Other 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on St. James Parish's federal record, 61% 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 - 25 56.8%
of all 44 declarations
Emergency - 19 43.2%
of all 44 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 2 | |
| 2021 | 9 | |
| 2020 | 6 | |
| 2019 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 2 | |
| 2011 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 4 | |
| 2004 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
Show 8 earlier declaration years
| 1998 | 1 | |
| 1995 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1991 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 1 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1965 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 44 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 44 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 |
| 4817 | HURRICANE FRANCINE | DR | Hurricane | 2024-09-16 |
| 3614 | TROPICAL STORM FRANCINE | EM | Hurricane | 2024-09-10 |
| 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 |
| 4577 | HURRICANE ZETA | DR | Hurricane | 2021-01-12 |
| 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 |
| 3416 | TROPICAL STORM BARRY | EM | Coastal Storm | 2019-07-11 |
| 3392 | TROPICAL STORM NATE | EM | Hurricane | 2017-10-06 |
Show 24 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4277 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-08-14 |
| 4080 | HURRICANE ISAAC | DR | Hurricane | 2012-08-29 |
| 3347 | TROPICAL STORM ISAAC | EM | Hurricane | 2012-08-27 |
| 4015 | FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2011-08-18 |
| 3322 | FLOODING | EM | Flood | 2011-05-06 |
| 1786 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | DR | Hurricane | 2008-09-02 |
| 3289 | HURRICANE GUSTAV | EM | Hurricane | 2008-08-29 |
| 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 |
| 1435 | TROPICAL STORM ISIDORE | DR | Hurricane | 2002-09-27 |
| 1380 | TROPICAL STORM ALLISON | DR | Coastal Storm | 2001-06-11 |
| 1246 | HURRICANE GEORGES/TS FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-23 |
| 1049 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1995-05-10 |
| 956 | HURRICANE ANDREW | DR | Hurricane | 1992-08-26 |
| 904 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1991-05-03 |
| 829 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1989-05-20 |
| 374 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1973-04-27 |
| 315 | HURRICANE EDITH | DR | Hurricane | 1971-10-13 |
| 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 St. James 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
342
Total Paid
$7.5M
Avg Per Claim
$22.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Low
Score: 71.0/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$22.9M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Very High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Hurricane Relatively High
Drought Relatively High
Coastal Flooding Relatively High
Tornado Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Lightning Relatively Low
Cold Wave Relatively Low
Hail Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Ice Storm Relatively Low
Riverine Flooding Very Low
Strong Wind Relatively Low
Landslide Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Wildfire Very 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: Hurricane
Hurricane exposure in the model bundles the three ways a tropical system does harm, which arrive on different timescales and are insured differently: wind, storm surge on the coast, and rainfall flooding that can reach far inland well after landfall.
For St. James Parish the two measures on this page point the same way: Hurricane is the county's highest-rated modeled hazard (Relatively High), and Hurricane declarations also lead its federal record. Where the model and the declaration history agree, the reading is comparatively straightforward, the hazard is both expected and repeatedly realised.
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
St. James Parish's closest FEMA peer: Pottawatomie County, OK
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for St. James Parish. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
St. James Parish shows 44 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
St. James Parish: 25 of 44 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
St. James Parish: NRI composite 71.0 (Relatively Low).
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 St. James Parish - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
St. James Parish's NFIP claims file (342 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 St. James Parish?
The most common disaster type in St. James Parish is Hurricane, with 27 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (5), Coastal Storm (4), Severe Ice Storm (2).
How does St. James Parish's FEMA declaration record compare with the Louisiana average?
FEMA lists 44 declaration records for St. James Parish. That is 6% above the Louisiana county mean of 41.4. Its count is also 112% 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 St. James Parish received?
St. James Parish has received 25 major disaster declarations, representing 57% of all 44 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has St. James Parish filed?
St. James Parish has 342 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $7.5M in payments, with an average of $22.0K per claim.
What was the worst year for disasters in St. James Parish?
The most active year for disaster declarations in St. James Parish was 2021, with 9 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1965 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for St. James Parish?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, St. James Parish, Louisiana has an overall risk score of 71.0 out of 100 (Relatively Low). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Very High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $22.9M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to St. James Parish?
FEMA's NRI data points to St. James Parish is Hurricane (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Drought (Relatively High) and Coastal Flooding (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts hurricane here at roughly once every 4 years, drawn from 75 historical events on record. These scores are based on FEMA's analysis of historical event frequency, exposed assets, and community vulnerability.
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 St. James Parish
St. James Parish, LA has 44 federal declaration records, 6% 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 25 of 44 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 98% of 3,266 U.S. counties. Most-disaster rankings
- Use the data guide to separate this mid-volume insurance-claims file from declaration counts and modeled NRI risk. 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.