Caldwell Parish, Louisiana: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Caldwell Parish, Louisiana has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 10.5 out of 100, higher than about 10% of US counties, with hurricanes, heat waves and drought scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $3.9 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 36 federal disaster declarations that included Caldwell Parish since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4900-LA (Severe Winter Storm, declared 18 February 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 20 tornadoes touching Caldwell Parish from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Louisiana All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 9,627 Buildings worth $1.8 billion Area 547 sq mi Risk rank in Louisiana 64 of 64 FIPS 22021
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 62.2 | $208,116 | about once every 16 years | 20 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 56.3 | $395,800 | about 21 a year | 334 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 54.4 | $159,956 | about 32 a year | 938 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 46.0 | $56,555 | about once a year | 68 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 44.3 | $372,121 | about 3.5 a year | 134 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 39.9 | $684,006 | about once every 2.2 years | 20 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 38.6 | $135,034 | about 3.1 a year | 119 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 28.3 | $50,115 | about once every 649 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 26.0 | $9,003 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Landslide | Very Low | 24.6 | $147 | about once every 7.5 years | — |
| Lightning | Very Low | 21.9 | $60,139 | about 69 a year | 50,743 strikes |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 17.6 | $1.7 million | about once every 1.8 years | 16 |
| Cold wave | Very Low | 14.1 | $111,305 | about once every 1.7 years | 11 |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 5.3 | $3,022 | about 2.5 a year | 48 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 36
Most common: Hurricane 18, Flood 7, Severe Storm 4, Winter Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 1970s | 5 | Flood ×3, Snowstorm, Severe Storm |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1990s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 9 | Hurricane ×7, Severe Storm ×2 |
| 2010s | 3 | Flood ×2, Hurricane |
| 2020s | 15 | Hurricane ×9, Winter Storm ×2, Coastal Storm ×2, Severe Ice Storm ×2 |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Caldwell Parish
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3638-LA): 64 Louisiana counties designated.
- Tropical Storm Francine (2024, EM-3614-LA): 64 Louisiana counties designated.
- Tropical Storm Nicholas (2021, EM-3574-LA): 64 Louisiana counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Tropical Storm Francine (2024), Tropical Storm Nicholas (2021), Hurricane Ida (2021), Tropical Storm Ida (2021), Tropical Storm Zeta (2020), Hurricane Delta (2020), Hurricane Sally (2020), Hurricane Laura (2020), Tropical Storm Cristobal (2020), Hurricane Isaac (2012), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Hurricane Rita (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Hurricane Lili (2002), Hurricane Betsy (1965).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Louisiana also had 6 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 20
| Tornadoes touching the county | 20 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×5 |
| Peak month | March (5) |
| Deadliest | 23 Nov 2004, F3, 15 mi path, 1 killed, 20 injured |
| Longest path | 18 Jan 1973, F3, 38 mi path, 1 killed, 2 injured |
| Most recent | 4 Mar 2025, EF1, 0.4 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 2 / 29 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Caldwell Parish compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caldwell Parish (this page) | — | Very Low | 10.5 | Hurricane |
| Franklin Parish | 42 km | Very Low | 35.9 | Drought |
| Ouachita Parish | 43 km | Relatively Moderate | 87.5 | Ice storm |
| LaSalle Parish | 46 km | Very Low | 12.2 | Hurricane |
| Jackson Parish | 48 km | Very Low | 26.2 | Ice storm |
| Richland Parish | 49 km | Very Low | 36.7 | Drought |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Louisiana, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 69.5 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 55.9 |
| Community risk factor | 1.31 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $3.9 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Caldwell Parish's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Louisiana · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Heat wave: Heatstroke warning signs
- Drought: Drought monitor for Louisiana
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. 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).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Caldwell Parish
What natural disasters is Caldwell Parish, Louisiana most at risk from?
Caldwell Parish, Louisiana has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 10.5 out of 100, higher than about 10% of US counties, with hurricanes, heat waves and drought scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $3.9 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Caldwell Parish had?
OpenFEMA lists 36 federal disaster declarations that included Caldwell Parish since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4900-LA (Severe Winter Storm, declared 18 February 2026). Another 6 Louisiana declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Caldwell Parish?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 20 tornadoes touching Caldwell Parish from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 23 Nov 2004, F3, 15 mi path, 1 killed, 20 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.