Barataria’s biggest natural hazard is hurricanes
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Barataria comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Barataria’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
What Barataria faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Hurricanes
Coastal flooding
Inland flooding
Does Barataria flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Barataria. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Barataria isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Jefferson Parish.How exposed is Barataria?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 100% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and coastal flooding.
Rated higher than 482 of the 483 Louisiana towns we cover.
Barataria is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
9 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Barataria
Disasters that paid out in Barataria itself (aid to households or repair grants to Barataria) and its biggest flood years.
- 2024Hurricane Francine8 households applied for aid$2K aid approved
- 2021Hurricane Ida515 households applied for aid$2.6M aid approved
- 2020Hurricane Zeta29 households applied for aid$36K aid approved
- 2012Hurricane Isaac354 households applied for aid$412K aid approved
- 2008Hurricane Ike301 households applied for aid$835K aid approved
- 2008Hurricane Gustav274 households applied for aid$135K aid approved
Show all 9
- 2005Hurricane Rita345 households applied for aid$932K aid approved
- 2005Hurricane Katrina778 households applied for aid$3.0M aid approved
- 2004Hurricane Ivan2 households applied for aid$3K aid approved
Jefferson Parish has had 37 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.
Old photos of Barataria after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Barataria archive →Get ready for what Barataria actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Know your evacuation zone and the way off the coast.
- Storm surge comes fast: leave when you’re told, not when the water arrives.
- Move cars to high ground before king tides and nor’easters.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Barataria and its neighbors
Barataria has the lowest rating of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its hazards.
| Town | Rating | Mostly | Flood claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barataria | Very high | hurricanes | 0 |
| Lafitte | Very high | hurricanes | 0 |
| Jean Lafitte | Very high | hurricanes | 675 |
Rating = expected yearly storm and flood damage as a share of what’s there, vs. U.S. communities. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.
Most disasters here begin in August–October
The month each of Jefferson Parish’s 37 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.
- Compared by rate. “Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Barataria’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Barataria.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Barataria.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.