Vernon Parish, Louisiana

What hazards hit Vernon Parish most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 196 since 1965. 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 Vernon Parish had?

NOAA records 61 tornadoes in Vernon Parish from 1953 to 2026, the strongest rated F4, with 10 deaths and 51 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 59 tornadoes whose track touched Vernon Parish since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 61: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 14 people, 10 of them in Vernon Parish.

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 Vernon Parish?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the February 14, 2026 thunderstorm wind ($1,000 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 Vernon 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 Vernon Parish. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Vernon Parish

FEMA's register lists 39 declarations that include Vernon Parish: 17 major disasters, 18 emergencies and 4 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for hurricane (19) and fire (4).

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 Vernon Parish had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 36 flood or flash flood records for Vernon Parish from 1998 to 2026, on 34 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Vernon Parish ranks 687th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $9.4 million on 338 claims filed in Vernon Parish; the most in one year was 68 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 Vernon Parish

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Vernon Parish Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $21.6 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 Vernon Parish

1. Natchitoches Parish 903
2. Rapides Parish 728
3. Sabine Parish 662
4. Beauregard Parish 499
5. Vernon Parish 450
6. Allen Parish 338
7. Newton County, TX 302

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 Vernon ParishThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Vernon Parish's FEMA declarations (CSV)39 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis