Natural hazards · Pioneer

Pioneer, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pioneer comes from drought, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Pioneer?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pioneer 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 Pioneer 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 Pioneer flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Pioneer 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

1flood-prone properties bought out and cleared

Disasters that hit Pioneer

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PioneerDeclared for West Carroll Parish only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

9 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

140 households applied for aid $235K aid approved

2008

Hurricane Gustav

95 households applied for aid $359K aid approved

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. Pioneer 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 Pioneer’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Village of Pioneer. 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.