Leonville’s biggest natural hazard is inland flooding
Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Leonville comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 1979. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.
What stands out about Leonville’s weather risks
Read from FEMA’s records below. The page puts what stands out first.
Does Leonville flood? Rarely: 3 flood claims since 1979
Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Leonville, from FEMA’s records.
Leonville isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: St. Landry Parish.How exposed is Leonville?
FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings here to be higher than in 68% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and hurricanes.
Calmer than 264 of the 483 Louisiana towns we cover.
Leonville is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.
What Leonville faces
Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how it compares with the rest of the country.
Inland flooding
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
Cold waves
9 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Leonville
Disasters that paid out in Leonville itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Leonville) and its biggest flood years.
- 2020Hurricane Delta9 households applied for aid$6K aid approved$16K to the Town of Leonville for repairs
- 2020Hurricane Laura4 households applied for aid$8K aid approved
- 2016Severe Storms and Flooding11 households applied for aid$17K aid approved
- 2012Hurricane Isaac$4K to the Town of Leonville for repairs
- 2008Hurricane Gustav77 households applied for aid$57K aid approved$68K to the Town of Leonville for repairs
- 2006Severe Storms and Flooding6 households applied for aid$23K aid approved
Show all 9
- 2005Hurricane Rita48 households applied for aid$27K aid approved$55K to the Town of Leonville for repairs
- 2004Severe Storms and Flooding5 households applied for aid$2K aid approved
- 2002Hurricane Lili$9K to the Town of Leonville for repairs
St. Landry Parish has had 34 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.
Old photos of Leonville after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Leonville archive →Get ready for what Leonville actually faces
A short kit for its top hazards, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
- Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
- Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Most disasters here begin in August–October
The month each of St. Landry Parish’s 34 declared disasters began, since 1953.
What these numbers can and can’t tell you
- An average, not a forecast. FEMA’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 there, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings.
- Money that reached town. Flood claims are matched to Leonville’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Leonville.
- It follows property value. FEMA’s model weighs damage to buildings, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Leonville.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. An average of past damage, not a forecast.