Natural hazards · Watson

Watson, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Watson comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Watson?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Watson to be higher than in 93% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and inland flooding.

Hurricanes44%Inland flooding39%Tornadoes9%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Watson faces

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

Hurricanes

44% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Inland flooding

39% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Lower here

HailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Watson flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Livingston Parish.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

1homes raised above flood level

1buildings retrofitted against wind

Disasters that hit Watson

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WatsonDeclared for Livingston Parish only

2021

Hurricane Ida

3 households applied for aid

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $25K aid approved

2008

Hurricane Gustav

1 household applied for aid

2005

Hurricane Katrina

20 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

Livingston Parish has had 39 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. Watson 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 Watson’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Watson. 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.