Natural hazards · Buras

Buras, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Buras comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 726 claims here since 1983. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Buras?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Buras to be higher than in 91% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes.

Hurricanes85%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Buras faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Hurricanes

85% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Lower here

Inland floodingCoastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Buras flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Buras, from FEMA’s records.

726paid claims since 1983

$60.1Mpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19832026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Katrina: 643 claims, $59.0M
Hurricane Danny: 15 claims, $74K
Hurricane Ida: 10 claims, $207K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Buras isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Plaquemines Parish.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

6homes raised above flood level

1buildings floodproofed

Disasters that hit Buras

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Buras itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Buras.

Brought FEMA money into BurasDeclared for Plaquemines Parish only

2021

Hurricane Ida

1,211 households applied for aid $4.2M aid approved

2020

Hurricane Zeta

143 households applied for aid $183K aid approved

2012

Hurricane Isaac

1,210 households applied for aid $1.8M aid approved

2008

Hurricane Ike

100 households applied for aid $97K aid approved

2008

Hurricane Gustav

374 households applied for aid $146K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Rita

809 households applied for aid $2.0M aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

2,856 households applied for aid $29.0M aid approved

2004

Hurricane Ivan

634 households applied for aid $628K aid approved

Plaquemines Parish has had 33 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

Around Buras

Buras and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Empiremostly hurricanesVery high

Burasmostly hurricanesVery high

Triumphmostly hurricanesVery high

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’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 here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Buras covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Buras’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Buras. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Buras total about $816K a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.