Natural hazards · Fifth Ward

Fifth Ward, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Fifth Ward comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Fifth Ward?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Fifth Ward to be higher than in 50% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes21%Inland flooding19%Cold waves18%Tornadoes17%Drought10%Heat waves5%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Fifth Ward faces

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

Hurricanes

21% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Inland flooding

19% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 23 years in the area

Drought

10% of expected damage

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

HailIce 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 Fifth Ward flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Fifth Ward.

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Avoyelles Parish.

Disasters that hit Fifth Ward

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Avoyelles Parish shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Fifth Ward itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into Fifth WardDeclared for Avoyelles Parish only

Avoyelles Parish has had 29 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. Fifth Ward 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 Fifth Ward’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Fifth Ward. 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.