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Belle AllianceBelle Alliance · Photo: Z28scrambler · CC BY-SA 3.0
DHazard risk
Natural hazards in Belle Rose · FEMA

FEMA puts Belle Rose’s expected hazard damage per building above that of 94% of U.S. towns, mostly from hurricanes

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Belle Rose gets a D for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 94% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is hurricanes (76%), then river and rain flooding (18%). FEMA’s files show no paid flood insurance claims here.

Hurricanes 76%River and rain flooding 18%Tornadoes 3%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

more than 94%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
D
in Louisiana · higher than 94% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
Hurricanes
76% of expected building damage
Flood claims
0
paid since 1978 · $0
Disasters paid out here
5
of 36 declared for Assumption Parish
By hazard

What Belle Rose faces

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

Hurricanes

76%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

River and rain flooding

18%of expected building damage
Below average · lower than 72% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once every 4 years in the area
Smaller shares here
 Tornadoes Hail Coastal flooding Lightning top 0% Strong wind Earthquakes Ice storms Wildfire Winter storms Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts drought at 22% of Belle Rose’s expected losses. Drought does little damage to buildings (0.0%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Belle Rose’s grade

Hurricanes are 76% of the building damage FEMA expects in Belle Rose, and Belle Rose’s rate of hurricanes damage is in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts. Next is river and rain flooding at 18% (lower than 72% of U.S. census tracts).

Where Belle Rose sits
Belle Rose
Least damageMiddleMost damage

D higher expected damage per building than 94% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Belle Rose’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
Hurricanes76%River and rain flooding18%Tornadoes3%Everything else2%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.6M a year in losses across Belle Rose: $849K to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Recent disaster.FEMA’s model looks at expected damage to the buildings standing today. After Hurricane Ida in 2021, FEMA took 1,119 aid registrations from Belle Rose addresses (the town has 764 homes).
Shared tract.All of Belle Rose’s 1,698 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Bayou Corne CDP (32 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Belle Rose flood? No paid flood claims on record

FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Belle Rose. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.

of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Belle Rose isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Assumption Parish.
What’s been done with FEMA grants
1building retrofitted against wind
Disasters

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Belle Rose

Disasters that paid out in Belle Rose itself (aid to households or repair grants to Belle Rose), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.

  1. 2024Hurricane Francine628 households applied for aid$2.4M aid approved
  2. 2021Hurricane Ida1,119 households applied for aid$2.7M aid approved
  3. 2012Hurricane Isaac281 households applied for aid$324K aid approved
  4. 2008Hurricane Gustav948 households applied for aid$1.9M aid approved
  5. 2005Hurricane Katrina927 households applied for aid$1.3M aid approved
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in Belle RoseAssumption Parish only

Assumption Parish has had 36 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then floods.

Were you here?

Old photos of Belle Rose after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Belle Rose archive →
Next door

Belle Rose and its neighbors

Belle Rose is 2nd of the 2 graded towns here, from least expected damage per building to most. Tap a town to see its hazards.

Paincourtville: hazard risk DPaincourtvilleBelle Rose
Lowest fifthSecondMiddleFourthHighest fifth
TownHazard riskMostly (buildings)Flood claims
PaincourtvilleDmore damage than 93%hurricanes—
Belle RoseDmore damage than 94%hurricanes0

Hazard risk = FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade; the map is shaded by fifths of the same scale. Flood claims = paid federal flood insurance claims on record.

Be ready

Get ready for what Belle Rose faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

Hurricane season
  • The season runs June through November and peaks from mid-August to mid-October.
  • Bring in porch furniture and anything the wind can throw.
  • Fill the gas tank and charge phones before the storm arrives.
More from Ready.gov ↗
When the river rises
  • Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
  • Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
  • Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
  • Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
  • Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Belle Rose

Is Belle Rose at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Belle Rose has higher expected damage per building than 94% of U.S. towns: D for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is hurricanes (76%) and river and rain flooding (18%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Is Belle Rose in a flood zone?

Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Assumption Parish, 29% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 11.8% of all homes do.

How much is flood insurance in Belle Rose?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Belle Rose’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.

What was the biggest storm in Belle Rose?

By FEMA money that reached Belle Rose, Hurricane Ida (2021): 1,119 households applied for aid, $2.7M approved.

Is Belle Rose at risk from hurricanes?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (76%), and Belle Rose’s rate for it is in the top 3% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Belle Rose.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Belle Rose’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.