Natural hazards · Cotton Valley

Cotton Valley, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cotton Valley comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cotton Valley?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cotton Valley to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding38%Tornadoes14%Heat waves11%Strong wind11%Ice storms10%Hail8%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Cotton Valley faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 45% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 15 years in the area

Heat waves

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Ice storms

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 5 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Cotton Valley flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Cotton Valley.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Webster Parish.

Disasters that hit Cotton Valley

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Cotton ValleyDeclared for Webster Parish only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

10 households applied for aid $21K aid approved

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $390 aid approved

2000

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$19K to the Town of Cotton Valley for repairs

Webster Parish has had 26 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. Cotton Valley 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 Cotton Valley’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Cotton Valley. 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.