Orleans Parish, Louisiana
flood insurance data

NFIP premiums in Orleans Parish

NFIP premiums: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote. Across 57,653 policies (policies effective 2025; occupancy: residential (occupancyType 1,2,3,11,12,13,14); amount: FEMA field policyCost), the median is $1,080, and half of them fall between $958 (Q1) and $1,260 (Q3).

Residential NFIP policies counted by FEMA fell 19.8% between 2019 (71,893) and 2025 (57,653); the count peaked in 2020 (73,153). Inside the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the median premium in Orleans Parish is $1,211, 12.3% higher than outside it ($1,078); most of its zoned policies sit outside it (68.6%).

By flood zone

Policies in force by year

Base of each count: the yearly figures are FEMA API counts of residential policy terms, every premium included; the median and quartiles rest on the policies effective 2025 with a positive policyCost. For 2025 both bases count 57,653 policies.

NFIP paid building claims in Orleans Parish

NFIP claims: amounts paid, not repair cost. Window: year of loss 2015-2024; 2,891 paid claims; median $18,652, half of them between $6,774 (Q1) and $43,146 (Q3), in nominal dollars. Median in 2024 dollars (CPI-U): $22,473, a monetary adjustment, not today’s cost of repair.

With 2,891 paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024), Orleans Parish has the 31st most of 339 counties with all four FEMA sources, and the 8th most of 38 Louisiana counties of that list. The named event with the most paid claims in Orleans Parish, Hurricane Ida, accounts for 28.8% of them, ahead of Tropical Storm Barry (23.6%): no single event holds a majority. Two years hold 61.4% of the paid claims (year of loss 2015-2024): 2021 with 891 and 2019 with 884.

Paid claims by year of loss

FEMA disaster declarations

Since 2000: 26 flood, hurricane and severe-storm declarations (DR and EM) covering Orleans Parish, 15 of them major disaster declarations.

Latest declarations

• DR-4817: HURRICANE FRANCINE (Hurricane, 2024-09-16)
• EM-3614: TROPICAL STORM FRANCINE (Hurricane, 2024-09-10)
• DR-4611: HURRICANE IDA (Hurricane, 2021-08-29)
• EM-3568: TROPICAL STORM IDA (Hurricane, 2021-08-27)
• DR-4577: HURRICANE ZETA (Hurricane, 2021-01-12)

FEMA assistance to homeowners

Since 2002: 89,442 owner registrations inspected by FEMA in Orleans Parish after disasters of every declared type; inspected damage is FEMA’s assessment for its assistance program, not repair cost.

Disasters with the most inspections

• DR-1603, HURRICANE KATRINA (declared 2005-08-29): 48,614 inspections
• DR-4611, HURRICANE IDA (declared 2021-08-29): 18,822 inspections
• DR-4080, HURRICANE ISAAC (declared 2012-08-29): 10,839 inspections
• DR-1786, HURRICANE GUSTAV (declared 2008-09-02): 8,512 inspections
• DR-4577, HURRICANE ZETA (declared 2021-01-12): 1,014 inspections

NFIP communities and flood maps

FEMA’s Community Status Book places 1 NFIP community in Orleans Parish alone; 1 of them (100.0%) are classed in the Community Rating System (CRS). The best class among the communities counted here is 7 (New Orleans/Orleans Parish*): FEMA applies that 15% discount to the full-risk premium of Regular Program NFIP policies in that community, inside or outside the SFHA, not to the whole county; a policy can be excluded if its building does not comply with local floodplain rules. The oldest flood map still in effect in Orleans Parish dates from 2016-09-30 (New Orleans/Orleans Parish*).

Questions about flood insurance in Orleans Parish

How much is flood insurance in Orleans Parish?

NFIP policyholders in Orleans Parish paid a median of $1,080 for residential policies effective 2025 (57,653 policies; FEMA field policyCost: premium, reserve fund assessment, federal policy fee and HFIAA surcharge); half paid between $958 and $1,260; $1,211 inside the Special Flood Hazard Area against $1,078 outside it: what NFIP policyholders paid, not a quote.

How many flood insurance claims has Orleans Parish had?

2,891 NFIP building claims were paid (year of loss 2015-2024), with a median of $18,652; the year with the most was 2021 (891), and the named event with the most was Hurricane Ida (833). These are amounts paid, not repair cost.

Is Orleans Parish in a flood zone?

Of the residential NFIP policies of Orleans Parish (policies effective 2025), 18,089 are rated inside the Special Flood Hazard Area and 39,564 outside it (zones listed: X, AE, VE, AO), but these aggregates cannot tell the flood zone of an address: FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center shows it for a given property.

Statewide figures: Louisiana flood insurance data.

Named storms with paid claims in Orleans Parish

• Hurricane Katrina
• Hurricane Ida
• Hurricane Isaac
• Hurricane Rita
• Hurricane Gustav
• Hurricane Francine
• Hurricane Zeta
• Tropical Storm Barry

Related tools

NFIP paid claims and premiums are not repair estimates: to estimate the cleanup of a flooded basement from published cost-guide rates, use the basement water damage repair cost calculator; for water removal and drying after any water loss, the water damage and mitigation calculator.

To set these figures against every State on one claims window, amounts paid, not repair cost: NFIP paid building claims by state.

Before using these figures

A county figure can rest on one disaster, and FEMA’s county code may not be the county where every property stands. Method and limits.

Source and notice

• Dominant event: Hurricane Ida = 0.288 of paid claims 2015-2024.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).