Natural hazards · Forest Hill

Forest Hill, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Forest Hill comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Forest Hill?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Forest Hill to be higher than in 60% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding53%Cold waves14%Hurricanes12%Heat waves6%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Forest Hill faces

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

Inland flooding

53% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

14% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hurricanes

12% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Lower here

TornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

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 Forest Hill flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Forest Hill.

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Rapides Parish.

Disasters that hit Forest Hill

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Forest HillDeclared for Rapides Parish only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

5 households applied for aid $3K aid approved

2020

Hurricane Delta

17 households applied for aid $15K aid approved

2020

Hurricane Laura

195 households applied for aid $86K aid approved

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

4 households applied for aid

2008

Hurricane Gustav

142 households applied for aid $125K aid approved $43K to the Village of Forest Hill for repairs

2005

Hurricane Rita

$15K to the Village of Forest Hill for repairs

2002

Hurricane Lili

$6K to the Village of Forest Hill for repairs

Rapides Parish has had 36 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. Forest Hill 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 Forest Hill’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Forest Hill. 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.