Natural hazards · St. Joseph

St. Joseph, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Joseph comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is low for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 1983. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is St. Joseph?

Low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. Joseph to be higher than in 37% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes25%Inland flooding21%Drought11%Hurricanes10%Heat waves8%Hail8%Everything else18%

By hazard

What St. Joseph faces

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

Tornadoes

25% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 11 years in the area

Inland flooding

21% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 4% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 17 times a year in the area

Hurricanes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 82% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Lower here

Ice stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 St. Joseph flood?

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

7paid claims since 1983

$49Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19832026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Gustav: 1 claim, $25K
Hurricane Katrina: 1 claim, $3K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Tensas Parish.

Disasters that hit St. Joseph

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in St. Joseph itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of St. Joseph.

Brought FEMA money into St. JosephDeclared for Tensas Parish only

2012

Hurricane Isaac

1 household applied for aid

2008

Hurricane Gustav

103 households applied for aid $93K aid approved $74K to the Town of St. Joseph for repairs

2005

Hurricane Rita

$11K to the Town of St. Joseph for repairs

2005

Hurricane Katrina

$12K to the Town of St. Joseph for repairs

Tensas Parish has had 18 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. St. Joseph 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 St. Joseph’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of St. Joseph. 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.