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Washington Parish, LA flood insurance claims history

674 National Flood Insurance Program claims have been filed for flood losses in Washington Parish since 1979, and FEMA has paid out $15.6M on them. The worst year was 2016 with 178 claims. Washington Parish ranks #32 of 64 in Louisiana by claim count.

At a glance

  • 30% of claims came from buildings outside FEMA’s high-risk flood zones (B, C or X), where lenders usually do not require flood insurance.
  • 23% of all claims trace to a single event — Late winter severe storms (2016), which paid $7.8M here.
  • Flood claims were filed in 9 of the last 10 years — flooding here is a regular event, not a once-in-a-generation one.
  • More flood claims than 51% of the 64 Louisiana parishes with any claims on file — and more than 0 of its 2 neighbors.
  • ZIP 70438 has the most claims in the county (306, 45%). Check your ZIP →
NFIP claims
674
1979 – 2026
Total paid
$15.6M
nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted
Claims paid
80%
538 received a payment
Average payout
$29K
per paid claim
Last 10 years
79
claims 2017 – 2026
Most recent loss
2026-06-18
data as of 2026-09-07

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Pick your ZIP code to see how many insured buildings there filed flood claims, in which years, and how much was paid. Narrow by year or flood zone too. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you pick is sent anywhere.

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Flood claims by year

Peak: 178 claims in 2016
 
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Claims by year of loss, 1979–2026. Spikes line up with named storms and major rain events; quiet years still see claims from local flash flooding.

Biggest flood events in Washington Parish

Flood event (FEMA name)ClaimsPaidAvg / claimYear
Late winter severe storms158$7.8M$49K2016
Hurricane Isaac63$1.6M$26K2012
Hurricane Katrina50$695K$14K2005
Flooding (FEMA general label)49$591K$12K1983
Flooding (FEMA general label)37$300K$8K1990
Mid-summer severe storms19$265K$14K2016
Flooding (FEMA general label)17$54K$3K1993
Flooding (FEMA general label)15$62K$4K1980
Tropical Storm Allison11$154K$14K2001
Hurricane Ida9$68K$8K2021
Flooding (FEMA general label)6$36K$6K1991
Flooding (FEMA general label)6$16K$3K1982

65% of claims here fall under these 12 entries. “FEMA general label” groups many separate floods under one name; the rest of the claims have no event name.

Claims by flood zone

Not sure what the zone letters mean? Flood zones explained →

High-risk A zones: 394 (58%)Coastal high-risk V zones: 1 (0%)Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X): 168 (25%)Zone not recorded: 111 (16%)
Flood zone at ratingClaimsPaidAvg / claim
High-risk A zones (A, AE, AH, AO, A1–A30, AR)394$10.0M$25K
Coastal high-risk V zones (V, VE, V1–V30)1$17K$17K
Moderate / low-risk zones (B, C, X)168$4.5M$27K
Zone not recorded111$1.0M$9K

What caused the flooding

Cause of damage (as coded by FEMA)ClaimsShare
Stream, river or lake overflow29744%
Accumulation of rainfall or snowmelt23635%
Tidal water overflow (storm surge)6710%
Other causes518%
Not recorded132%
Alluvial fan overflow91%

Flood claims by ZIP code in Washington Parish

7 ZIP codes in Washington Parish have at least one NFIP claim. ZIP codes can cross county lines; this table counts only claims FEMA assigned to Washington Parish.

70438306$5.4M45%272026
70427283$8.1M42%362026
7042663$1.7M9%182019
7045011$317K2%72016
5$46K1%31983
704673$11K0%11991
704293$3K0%21985

Click a column to sort. Click a ZIP to load it in the lookup above.

When does Washington Parish flood?

March accounts for the most flood losses (204 claims, 30%). Claims by month of loss:

MonthClaimsShare
January9214%
February142%
March20430%
April7912%
May294%
June223%
July61%
August14421%
September101%
October132%
November10%
December609%

Year-by-year detail

Year of lossClaimsPaid
20263$14K
20241$180K
20231$5K
20223$65K
202114$191K
20201$2K
20197$198K
201846$2.1M
20173$18K
2016178$8.1M
20141$0
201264$1.6M
20102$76K
200928$623K
20089$90K
20071$6K
20061$0
200552$707K
20045$37K
20038$35K
20027$14K
200118$188K
19992$9K
19981$3K
19975$15K
19954$8K
199420$89K
199323$69K
19923$0
199110$73K
199043$319K
19893$4K
19883$10K
19875$23K
19855$28K
19844$4K
198353$592K
19828$20K
19812$3K
198019$65K
19798$36K

Neighboring parishes and counties

Washington Parish borders 2 areas we cover. Flood risk does not stop at a county line, so it is worth comparing.

NeighborClaimsPaidOutside high-risk
Washington Parish (this page)674$15.6M30%
St. Tammany Parish38,420$1.78B28%
Tangipahoa Parish4,296$177.6M35%

All 64 Louisiana parishes → · County and ZIP rankings →

Common questions about flooding in Washington Parish

Has Washington Parish flooded recently?
Yes — the most recent flood loss with an insurance claim on file was on 2026-06-18, and claims were filed in 9 of the last 10 years (79 claims from 2017 to 2026). FEMA’s data runs to 2026-09-07, so the newest events may not appear yet.
Do I need flood insurance in a low-risk zone here?
Lenders generally require it only in high-risk A and V zones. But 30% of Washington Parish’s claims came from moderate- and low-risk zones. Whether to buy coverage is your call — see flood zones explained and check your address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.
Can I see whether a specific house has flooded?
Not here. FEMA removes addresses before publishing, so these figures describe areas, never a property. Our guide how to check if a house has flooded lists the questions and records that can tell you about a specific home.
Why might the real number of floods be higher?
Only buildings with National Flood Insurance can file these claims, and most homes are not insured for flood. More on what the counts mean in understanding NFIP claims data.

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About these numbers

Figures are aggregated from FEMA’s OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims dataset (county FIPS 22117, data as of 2026-09-07). They cover only properties that carried National Flood Insurance — most homes do not, and private flood policies are not included — so real flood damage is larger than these counts show. Dollar amounts are as paid, in nominal dollars. Flood zone is the zone used to rate the policy at the time, which may differ from today’s map. FEMA states this dataset is not an official federal report. Use it for background, not for a purchase, insurance or legal decision; for a specific property ask the seller for its flood disclosure or the owner’s NFIP loss history.