Flood Risk in New Orleans, LA
Risk Level: Very High — Score 7/10
Live Flood alert status near New Orleans
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Flood watch, flood advisory, flood warning or flash flood warning near New Orleans: what each means
The National Weather Service flood products, from least to most urgent. The live status above shows which, if any, is in effect within 300 km of New Orleans.
Flood Watch
Conditions favor flooding or flash flooding, usually within the next 48 hours and for river flooding sometimes several days ahead. Flooding is possible, not certain. Review your routes and be ready to act.
Flood Advisory
Minor or nuisance flooding is expected or occurring, such as water ponding on roads or small streams edging out of their banks. An inconvenience rather than a threat to life if you avoid flooded roads.
Flood Warning
Flooding is imminent or occurring, usually from rivers or streams rising over hours to days. Never drive through flooded roads; move to higher ground if told to.
Flash Flood Warning
Rapid, life-threatening flooding is imminent or occurring, usually within 6 hours of heavy rain or a dam or levee failure. Move to higher ground immediately. A Flash Flood Emergency is the rare top tier for catastrophic flooding.
River flood products are tied to official flood stages at specific gauges, so a warning can be in effect for one river reach and not the next. Coastal flooding has its own Coastal Flood Advisory, Watch and Warning.
Live flood map around New Orleans
Shows flood warnings and events that are active right now, refreshed through the day. When none are active, the map is empty by design.
Key Risk Factors
- FEMA rates New Orleans's county as Relatively High risk
- Estimated annual loss of $47M from this hazard type
- Extensive history of significant events in this area
- High recent activity — multiple events in the 12 months to Aug 9, 2026
- Average annual frequency: 2.7 events per year
Peak season: March-September
Last significant event: Flood - New Orleans, LA Region, United States (2025-05-29) — 489,000 people exposed
Highest Risk Cities for Floods
How New Orleans Compares
Notable Flood Events Near New Orleans
DisasterAWARE's historical archive records 5 notable flood events near New Orleans, ranked below by impact. The most impactful: Flood - New Orleans, LA Region, United States (May 2025) — 489,000 people exposed; $83,003M capital exposed.
Flood - New Orleans, LA Region, United States
May 29, 2025 — WARNING
489,000 people exposed; $83,003M capital exposed
Flood - New Orleans, LA Region, United States
July 26, 2024 — WARNING
282,000 people exposed; $52,549M capital exposed
Flood - New Orleans, LA Region, United States
August 29, 2023 — WARNING
Impact data not available
Flood - New Orleans, LA Region, United States
July 30, 2022 — WARNING
Impact data not available
Flood - New Orleans, LA Region, United States
July 5, 2022 — WARNING
Impact data not available
Flood Preparedness Tips
- 1.Know if your property is in a flood zone — check FEMA maps
- 2.Consider flood insurance even if not in a high-risk zone
- 3.Never drive through flooded roadways — Turn Around, Don’t Drown
- 4.Move valuables and important documents to upper floors
- 5.Install sump pumps and check valves in plumbing
Related Pages
How this data is built
New Orleans, LA flood risk combines Historical Event Intelligence with authoritative hazard modeling from the Geospatial Intelligence Layers catalog. Live flood monitoring is available through the Event Intelligence API and the DisasterAWARE Platform.
The data behind this page
Every score and event here comes from DisasterAWARE's hazard database — available as downloadable historical datasets and a real-time API.
Monitor Flood Risk in Real Time
Get real-time flood alerts for New Orleans, LA and hundreds of other locations with DisasterAWARE's enterprise platform.