Natural hazards · Colfax

Colfax, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Colfax comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 19 claims here since 1979. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Colfax?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Colfax to be higher than in 24% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding37%Tornadoes21%Heat waves10%Drought8%Strong wind7%Hurricanes7%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Colfax faces

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

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 25% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

21% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 19 years in the area

Heat waves

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 22 times a year in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 31 times a year in the area

Strong wind

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 77% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Colfax flood?

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

19paid claims since 1979

$275Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19792026

Biggest named events

Late winter severe storms: 2 claims, $36K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Grant Parish.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

4buildings retrofitted against wind

Disasters that hit Colfax

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into ColfaxDeclared for Grant Parish only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

31 households applied for aid $39K aid approved

2020

Hurricane Laura

943 households applied for aid $1.5M aid approved $555K to the Town of Colfax for repairs

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

302 households applied for aid $543K aid approved

2008

Hurricane Gustav

273 households applied for aid $256K aid approved $50K to the Town of Colfax for repairs

2006

Severe Storms and Flooding

113 households applied for aid $287K aid approved

Grant Parish has had 27 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

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. Colfax is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

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

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.