Photo: Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Saline
Saline isn’t graded for hazard risk: Saline has 188 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Saline faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Ice storms
Strong wind
Hurricanes
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.
Does Saline flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Saline. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Saline isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Bienville Parish.3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Saline
Disasters that paid out in Saline itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Village of Saline), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2021Severe Winter Storms2 households applied for aid$12K aid approved
- 2020Hurricane Laura44 households applied for aid$40K aid approved
- 2016Severe Storms and Flooding41 households applied for aid$188K aid approved
Bienville Parish has had 26 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often hurricanes and tropical storms, then winter storms.
Old photos of Saline after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Saline archive →Get ready for what Saline faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- 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.
- Ice brings down trees and lines: plan for days without power.
- Run a generator outside, far from doors and windows.
- Keep sand or salt by the door.
- Trim dead limbs over the house and driveway.
- Tie down trash cans and outdoor furniture.
- Stay clear of downed lines and call the utility.
- 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.
- 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.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Saline
Is Saline 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 Bienville Parish, 10% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.1% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Saline?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Saline’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 Saline?
By FEMA money that reached Saline, Severe Storms and Flooding (2016): 41 households applied for aid, $188K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Saline.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Saline’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.