194
Recorded events
2
Direct deaths
1
Direct injuries
$6.7M
Property damage
Flash Flood in Orleans Parish, Louisiana: 194 recorded events between 1998 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #46 nationally and #2 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Flash Flood in Orleans Parish, Louisiana: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for flash flood in Orleans Parish is the 2020s, when 155 of the county's 194 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Orleans Parish archive, flash flood makes up 41.1% of all recorded severe weather across 9 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #46 for this hazard and #2 within Louisiana, putting it in the 98.6 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for flash flood in Orleans Parish with 37 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 2021 | MC DOLOGHVILLE | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Dec 12, 2009 | VIEUX CARRE | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 12, 2024 | VIEUX CARRE | 0 | 0 | 1 | $1.0M |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 12, 2025 | VIEUX CARRE | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 12, 2025 | ALGIERS | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 12, 2025 | ALGIERS | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 7, 2025 | ALGIERS | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 14, 2025 | GENTILLY | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 14, 2025 | GENTILLY | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 14, 2025 | GENTILLY | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 14, 2025 | LEE | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 14, 2025 | VIEUX CARRE | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 14, 2025 | VIEUX CARRE | 0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Orleans Parish
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Heavy rain produced widespread and significant street flooding and caused the flooding of some homes in the Fountainbleau neighborhood. One person drowned in the Algiers area of New Orleans when he drove into a flooded canal. A passenger in the auto escaped injury but the driver was unable to exit the auto.
Thunderstorms repeatedly developed over the same area of New Orleans from the mid afternoon into early evening producing 4 to 9 inches of rain during a 3 to 5 hour period. The rainfall overwhelmed the drainage system leading to widespread and deep street flooding. Many streets were impassable from the Mid City area to just north of the French Quarter and Central Business District, and road and highway underpasses were deeply flooded . Numerous automobiles were also damaged by the flooding. Water entered at least several hundred homes and a number of businesses, with estimates likely to increase as claims are processed.
The greatest impact in the parish was flooding caused by heavy rain. As the north and northeastern eyewall stretched into an east-west oriented band of heavy rainfall, training storms resulted in widespread rainfall totals of 6-9��� across the parish with locally higher amounts. Most of the rain fell over the course of just a couple hours, overwhelming the city���s drainage capacity and causing canals to overflow. Numerous roads were impassable, and some underpasses flooded with up to 8 ft of water. One high water rescue was necessary when a man drove his vehicle around a barricade and into an underpass. He was transported to an area hospital following the rescue.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many flash flood events are on record in Orleans Parish, Louisiana?
194 flash flood events are recorded in Orleans Parish between 1998 and 2025, causing 2 direct deaths.
What is the strongest flash flood recorded in Orleans Parish?
The strongest flash flood on record in Orleans Parish measured 0.
Where does the flash flood data for Orleans Parish come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Flash Flood in Orleans Parish, Louisiana.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/louisiana/orleans-parish/flash-flood/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.