Natural hazards · Welcome

Welcome, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Welcome comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Welcome?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Welcome to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes and drought.

Hurricanes61%Drought19%Tornadoes7%Inland flooding7%Everything else7%

By hazard

What Welcome faces

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

Hurricanes

61% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

19% of expected damage

Recorded about 22 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 17 years in the area

Inland flooding

7% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 3% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Welcome flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Welcome 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. James Parish.

Disasters that hit Welcome

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for St. James Parish shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Welcome itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into WelcomeDeclared for St. James Parish only

St. James Parish has had 31 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

Around Welcome

Welcome and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Unionmostly hurricanesVery high

Welcomemostly hurricanesVery high

St. Jamesmostly hurricanesVery high

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