FEMA Records
46
Very high volume
Louisiana · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Vermilion Parish, LA
46 FEMA disaster declarations (1972-2026), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively Moderate. Most common hazard: Hurricane.
- 46
- FEMA declarations
- 26
- Major disasters
- 85
- NRI risk · Relatively Moderate
- Hurricane
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Vermilion Parish. Its 46 FEMA declarations are 11% 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 15%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 15%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively Moderate
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 46
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 4,799
- 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 Vermilion Parish compare?
Vermilion Parish vs. all counties in this dataset
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time
46 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
Vermilion 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 Vermilion Parish is led by Hurricane (about $19.4M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Drought 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 Vermilion Parish's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 4,799 claims and $187.1M 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 $39.0K. 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. Vermilion Parish's 46 federal records stand 11% 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 84.8/100 (Relatively Moderate). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively Low (roughly $44.3M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively High and community resilience Relatively High, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Drought stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Relatively High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at 27 modeled event-days per year here, based on 798 historical events on record.
Declaration frequency
The FEMA register is busy by both local and national comparisons. It contains 46 entries for Vermilion Parish, including 26 Major Disaster records, 11% above the Louisiana county mean. Across the 54-year span, that works out to 0.9 declarations a year. Hurricane leads the file with 28 entries. Declaration type records the federal action taken, not every assistance program approved.
78 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Vermilion 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
46 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (2.2x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
14/25
46 declarations (1.1x state county average of 41)
Major Disaster Share High
14/25
26 of 46 declarations are major disasters (57%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
20/20
9 different disaster types declared in Vermilion Parish
Historical Declaration Activity
Activity Band
High
vs. Louisiana Avg
+11%
State avg: 41.4
vs. National Avg
+122%
National avg: 20.7
Avg Per Year
0.9
Over 54 years
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Vermilion 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
85
Relatively Moderate
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Vermilion 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drought | Relatively High | 27 modeled event-days per year |
| Hurricane | Relatively High | roughly once every 6 years |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 86 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 1 years |
| Cold Wave | Relatively Moderate | an average of 1.1 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively Low | 9.8 modeled event-days per year |
| Coastal Flooding | Relatively Moderate | an average of 4.8 times per year |
| Ice Storm | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 3 years |
| Wildfire | Very Low | roughly once every 2,037 years |
| Earthquake | Very Low | roughly once every 1,353 years |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hail | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Strong Wind | Very Low | roughly once every 3 years |
| Winter Weather | Very Low | roughly once every 1 years |
| Landslide | Very Low | roughly once every 9 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Hurricane 28
Flood 6
Coastal Storm 4
Severe Ice Storm 2
Biological 2
Winter Storm 1
Severe Storm 1
Other 1
Snowstorm 1
What Hurricane declarations mean here
Hurricane is the most frequent declaration type on Vermilion 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 - 26 56.5%
of all 46 declarations
Emergency - 20 43.5%
of all 46 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 9 | |
| 2020 | 6 | |
| 2019 | 2 | |
| 2018 | 2 | |
| 2017 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 4 | |
| 2005 | 4 | |
| 2003 | 2 | |
| 2001 | 1 | |
| 1998 | 1 | |
Show 8 earlier declaration years
| 1993 | 1 | |
| 1992 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 2 | |
| 1985 | 1 | |
| 1980 | 1 | |
| 1977 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 46 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 46 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 |
| 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 |
| 4458 | HURRICANE BARRY | DR | Hurricane | 2019-08-27 |
| 3416 | TROPICAL STORM BARRY | EM | Coastal Storm | 2019-07-11 |
| 4345 | TROPICAL STORM HARVEY | DR | Hurricane | 2017-10-16 |
Show 26 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3392 | TROPICAL STORM NATE | EM | Hurricane | 2017-10-06 |
| 3382 | TROPICAL STORM HARVEY | EM | Hurricane | 2017-08-28 |
| 4277 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Flood | 2016-08-14 |
| 4102 | SEVERE STORMS AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2013-02-22 |
| 4080 | HURRICANE ISAAC | DR | Hurricane | 2012-08-29 |
| 1792 | HURRICANE IKE | DR | Hurricane | 2008-09-13 |
| 3295 | HURRICANE IKE | EM | Hurricane | 2008-09-11 |
| 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 |
| 3172 | LOSS OF SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA | EM | Other | 2003-02-01 |
| 1437 | HURRICANE LILI | DR | Hurricane | 2002-10-03 |
| 1380 | TROPICAL STORM ALLISON | DR | Coastal Storm | 2001-06-11 |
| 1246 | HURRICANE GEORGES/TS FRANCES | DR | Hurricane | 1998-09-23 |
| 978 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1993-02-02 |
| 956 | HURRICANE ANDREW | DR | Hurricane | 1992-08-26 |
| 835 | TROPICAL STORM ALLISON | DR | Flood | 1989-07-17 |
| 829 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1989-05-20 |
| 728 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-10-31 |
| 622 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1980-05-21 |
| 3031 | DROUGHT & FREEZING | EM | Snowstorm | 1977-02-22 |
| 448 | HURRICANE CARMEN | DR | Hurricane | 1974-09-23 |
| 315 | HURRICANE EDITH | DR | Hurricane | 1971-10-13 |
Storm Events in Louisiana
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Vermilion 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
4,799
Total Paid
$187.1M
Avg Per Claim
$39.0K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively Moderate
Score: 84.8/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively Low
$44.3M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively High
Community Resilience
Relatively High
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Drought Relatively High
Hurricane Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively Moderate
Cold Wave Relatively Moderate
Heat Wave Relatively Low
Coastal Flooding Relatively Moderate
Ice Storm Relatively Moderate
Wildfire Very Low
Earthquake Very Low
Tornado Relatively Low
Hail Very Low
Strong Wind Very Low
Winter Weather Very Low
Landslide 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: Drought
Drought is the slowest of the modeled hazards and the least visible: it does its damage to agriculture, water supply and soil over seasons rather than hours, so it rarely produces the kind of single-day damage that drives a disaster declaration. FEMA scores it in event-days per year rather than discrete events for exactly that reason.
Worth noting for Vermilion Parish: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Drought 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
Vermilion Parish's closest FEMA peer: Creek County, OK
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Vermilion Parish. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Vermilion Parish shows 46 FEMA declarations, led by Hurricane.
Similar Major-disaster share
Vermilion Parish: 26 of 46 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Vermilion Parish: NRI composite 84.8 (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 Vermilion Parish - capture-dated entries only.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Vermilion Parish's NFIP claims file (4,799 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 Vermilion Parish?
The most common disaster type in Vermilion Parish is Hurricane, with 28 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (6), Coastal Storm (4), Severe Ice Storm (2).
How does Vermilion Parish's FEMA declaration record compare with the Louisiana average?
FEMA lists 46 declaration records for Vermilion Parish. That is 11% above the Louisiana county mean of 41.4. Its count is also 122% 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 Vermilion Parish received?
Vermilion Parish has received 26 major disaster declarations, representing 57% of all 46 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Vermilion Parish filed?
Vermilion Parish has 4,799 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $187.1M in payments, with an average of $39.0K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Vermilion Parish?
No. In Vermilion Parish, Drought has the highest National Risk Index rating (Relatively High), while Hurricane leads Expected Annual Loss at about $19.4M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Vermilion Parish?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Vermilion Parish was 2021, with 9 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1972 to 2026.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Vermilion Parish?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana has an overall risk score of 84.8 out of 100 (Relatively Moderate). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively High, while community resilience comes in at Relatively High. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively Low, representing $44.3M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Vermilion Parish?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Vermilion Parish is Drought (risk rating: Relatively High). Other significant hazards include Hurricane (Relatively High) and Lightning (Relatively High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts drought here at 27 modeled event-days per year, drawn from 798 historical events on record. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against 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 Vermilion Parish
Vermilion Parish, LA has 46 federal declaration records, 11% 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 46 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.