Is Tangipahoa Parish, LA in a flood zone?
FEMA's National Risk Index puts Tangipahoa Parish's flood hazard at the 91.2th percentile nationally — a middling flood hazard by national standards — driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about once every 1 years. That's a county-wide figure, not a per-address one — FEMA's parcel maps are a live lookup, not a bulk file.
Who actually carries the flood insurance FEMA requires
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Tangipahoa Parish's mapped high-risk flood zone (the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) are legally required to carry an NFIP flood policy. In practice, 34.1% of them do — 2,929 active policies against 8,591 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Tangipahoa Parish, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 15.1% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Where Tangipahoa Parish ranks
Tangipahoa Parish sits at rank 296 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 479 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana is home to about 139,823 people across 791.18 square miles of land.
What to do next if you own or are buying in Tangipahoa Parish
FEMA counts 45,242 residential structures in Tangipahoa Parish overall, 6,827 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Tangipahoa Parish's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.