Natural hazards · Mathews

Mathews, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mathews comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 10 claims here since 2002. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mathews?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mathews to be higher than in 96% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes.

Hurricanes69%Inland flooding13%Tornadoes10%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Mathews faces

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

Hurricanes

69% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Inland flooding

13% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

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

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Mathews flood?

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

10paid claims since 2002

$474Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20022026

Biggest named events

2026-06-Arthur-TS: 7 claims, $434K
Hurricane Ida: 1 claim, $3K
Tropical Storm Isidore: 1 claim, $29K

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lafourche Parish.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1buildings retrofitted against wind

Disasters that hit Mathews

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MathewsDeclared for Lafourche Parish only

2024

Hurricane Francine

7 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2021

Hurricane Ida

59 households applied for aid $76K aid approved

2012

Hurricane Isaac

3 households applied for aid $31K aid approved

2008

Hurricane Ike

1 household applied for aid

2008

Hurricane Gustav

23 households applied for aid $4K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Rita

8 households applied for aid $2K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

43 households applied for aid $24K aid approved

Lafourche Parish has had 41 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. Mathews covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Mathews’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Mathews. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Mathews total about $3.8M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.