Sabine Parish, Louisiana: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Sabine Parish, Louisiana has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 61.0 out of 100, higher than about 61% of US counties, with strong winds, hurricanes and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $14 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 31 federal disaster declarations that included Sabine Parish since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3638-LA (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 39 tornadoes touching Sabine Parish from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 22,039 Buildings worth $5.5 billion Area 1,022 sq mi Risk rank in Louisiana 37 of 64 FIPS 22085
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 92.5 | $1.5 million | about 3.5 a year | 133 |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 80.3 | $1.3 million | about once every 13 years | 24 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 77.0 | $404,788 | about 7 a year | 116,762 strikes |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 76.5 | $787,381 | about 21 a year | 350 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 74.9 | $180,967 | about once a year | 65 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 72.0 | $1.7 million | about once every 1.2 years | 30 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 68.1 | $324,997 | about 3.3 a year | 125 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 67.4 | $90,431 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 66.5 | $7.2 million | about once a year | 28 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 61.6 | $1,890 | about once every 2.8 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 54.0 | $124,019 | about 28 a year | 917 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 44.0 | $33,253 | about 2.3 a year | 43 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 37.1 | $80,032 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Cold wave | Very Low | 22.9 | $171,922 | about once every 1.7 years | 11 |
| 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 31
Most common: Hurricane 18, Flood 3, Coastal Storm 2, Severe Ice Storm 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Snowstorm |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1990s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 10 | Hurricane ×7, Severe Storm, Other, Fire |
| 2010s | 3 | Hurricane ×2, Flood |
| 2020s | 14 | Hurricane ×9, Coastal Storm ×2, Severe Ice Storm ×2, Winter Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Sabine 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), Tropical Storm Harvey (2017), Hurricane Ike (2008), Hurricane Gustav (2008), Hurricane Rita (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Tropical Storm Allison (1989).
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 39
| Tornadoes touching the county | 39 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×4 |
| Peak month | May (8) |
| Deadliest | 12 Feb 1950, F3, 74.5 mi path, 5 killed, 25 injured |
| Longest path | 12 Feb 1950, F3, 74.5 mi path, 5 killed, 25 injured |
| Most recent | 26 Dec 2024, EF1, 1.9 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 6 / 44 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 9 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
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 Sabine Parish compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabine Parish (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 61.0 | Strong wind |
| Sabine County, TX | 37 km | Very Low | 22.1 | Hurricane |
| Natchitoches Parish | 47 km | Relatively Low | 56.4 | Strong wind |
| De Soto Parish | 57 km | Very Low | 42.0 | Strong wind |
| San Augustine County, TX | 61 km | Very Low | 17.6 | Strong wind |
| Shelby County, TX | 61 km | Relatively Low | 55.7 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Louisiana, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 91.2 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 14.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.65 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $14 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 Sabine Parish's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Louisiana · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Lightning: Weather alerts 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 Sabine Parish
What natural disasters is Sabine Parish, Louisiana most at risk from?
Sabine Parish, Louisiana has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 61.0 out of 100, higher than about 61% of US counties, with strong winds, hurricanes and lightning scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $14 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Sabine Parish had?
OpenFEMA lists 31 federal disaster declarations that included Sabine Parish since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3638-LA (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). Another 6 Louisiana declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Sabine Parish?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 39 tornadoes touching Sabine Parish from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 12 Feb 1950, F3, 74.5 mi path, 5 killed, 25 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.