Natural hazards · Epps

Epps, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Epps comes from drought, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2008. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Epps?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Epps to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought38%Inland flooding19%Tornadoes11%Heat waves7%Cold waves6%Everything else18%

By hazard

What Epps faces

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

Drought

38% of expected damage

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 17% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 72% of U.S. places

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Epps flood?

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

3paid claims since 2008

$37Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20082026

Biggest named events

Late winter severe storms: 2 claims, $28K
Hurricane Gustav: 1 claim, $8K

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. Epps isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: West Carroll Parish.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Epps

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into EppsDeclared for West Carroll Parish only

2021

Hurricane Ida

1 household applied for aid $500 aid approved

2021

Severe Winter Storms

3 households applied for aid

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

41 households applied for aid $63K aid approved

2008

Hurricane Gustav

54 households applied for aid $167K aid approved

1998

Severe Ice Storm

$3K to the Village of Epps for repairs

West Carroll Parish has had 21 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. Epps 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 Epps’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Epps. 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.