Vermilion Parish

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Vermilion Parish: 3.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

High tide flooding

1. High tide flooding days are days on which a NOAA tide gauge recorded water at or above NOAA's minor flood threshold, set from the gauge's tide range, counted by meteorological year (May to April). These are the counts in NOAA's annual high tide flooding reports; they are not National Weather Service flood stages. Years with less than 80 percent of data are left out.

NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, through April 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Oct 9, 2020Hurricane (Typhoon), Vermilion$250 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The center of Hurricane Delta moved into eastern Cameron Parish with Vermilion Parish experiencing all on shore flow. This produced the highest storm tides along the coast of Vermilion Parish with a range of 8 to 10 feet MHHW along the gulf. The tide reached 10.1 feet NAV88D southwest of Freshwater Lock. Strom surge and heavy rain caused numerous streets to flood. Power poles and trees were also downed across the parish.

2. Aug 26, 2020Hurricane (Typhoon), Vermilion$200 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   There was a voluntary evacuation for the parish. Many trees and power lines were blown down across the parish. Homes and businesses were damaged by trees falling on them or the winds. Property south of the intracoastal waterway was flooded by the storm surge. Over 60 percent of the parish was without power immediately after the storm. Wind gusts ranged from 50 to 90 mph. Storm surge reached into the 8 to 12 feet range.

3. Sep 23, 2005Hurricane (Typhoon), Vermilion$140 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Rita made landfall around 230 am on September 24th in Cameron Parish near Johnson Bayou as a category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph. Wind gusts over 110 mph were recorded in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes. This resulted in numerous trees and power lines downed. In parts of Beauregard, Jeff Davis, and Vermilion Parishes, winds blew over 90 mph. The remainder of southwest Louisiana saw wind gusts in excess of 50 mph. Only one direct fatality has been reported. A man drowned near a sunken shrimping vessel near the Calcasieu ship channel. Estimated damages in southwest Louisiana total near 4 billion dollars, with the bulk of that loss in Cameron and Calcasieu…

4. Aug 14, 2016Flood$75.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The flood wave moved down the Vermilion River and crested during the morning of the 14th at 13.75 feet. An estimated 2520 homes flooded along the Vermilion River. The River at Perry dropped below major flood stage during the morning of the 18th.

5. Oct 3, 2002Hurricane (Typhoon), Vermilion$60.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Lili made landfall the morning of October 3rd near Intracoastal City in Vermilion Parish as a category one hurricane. Over 48,000 claims were filed with FEMA by homeowners who received damage. along the path of Lili, from southwest Louisiana into central Louisiana. Only 3 injuries were reported. One injury in Evangeline Parish at Ville Platte occurred when a policeman on patrol had a tree fall on his vehicle, trapping him inside. He received minor injuries and was treated and released from a local hospital. The other two injuries occurred in Acadia Parish. Two Rayne city employees were moving vehicles to a safer location when a brick facade at the water plant fell on…

6. Sep 1, 2008Tropical Storm, Vermilion$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hurricane Gustav caused tropical storm force winds in Vermilion Parish, resulting in scattered trees and power lines downed, mainly in eastern sections of the parish.

7. Jan 10, 2013Flood$27.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flood waters from rainfall that fell mainly during the 9th and 10th slowly drained across the Mermentau and Vermilion Basins. Major flooding was recorded on the Mermentau River at Mermentau in Acadia Parish upstream of NW Vermilion Parish and flooding was also noted at Perry and the Broussard Bridge. Flood waters receded along the southern portions of the Vermilion by the 17th, however flood waters did not drop below flood stage along the Mermentau until the 27th. 104 structures flooded during the event mainly near the Mermentau River.

8. Aug 14, 2016Flood$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The flood wave moved down the Mermentau River causing a crest of 10.8 feet at Lake Arthur. The flood stage is 4 feet. Many roads and some structures were flooded or remained flooded along the river into late in the month in far west sections of Vermilion Parish.

9. Aug 13, 2016Flash Flood$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Many flooded roadways were reported flooded during the heavy rain event. An estimated 1500 homes were also flooded from heavy rainfall.

10. Jul 13, 2019Storm Surge/Tide, Vermilion$5.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    A voluntary evacuation was called for low-lying areas in Vermilion Parish. Due to storm surge, Intracoastal City, Henry, Erath, and Delcambre flooded, with water depths varying from a few inches to several feet. Locals said the storm surge was comparable to what happened in 2002 Hurricane Lili and 2008 Hurricane Ike. Water levels hit 7.36 feet NAVD88 near Abbeville on the Vermilion River, 6.98 feet NAVD88 at Leland Boman Lock, and 6.84 feet NAVD88 at Intracoastal City.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

110°FAug 27, 2023

All-time low

4°FJan 22, 2025

Warmest night

84°FAug 24, 2023

Coldest day

17°FFeb 13, 1899

Wettest day

10.40 inAug 13, 2016

Snowiest day

14.0 inFeb 15, 1895

Hottest year

2023mean 72.9°F

Coldest year

1903mean 66.0°F

Wettest year

199381.07 in

Driest year

201135.82 in

Snowiest season

14.0 in1894-95

Station Lafayette Regional Airport (USW00013976), 35 ft elevation, 17.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 25, 2026; 99.9% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

Neighbouring counties

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00013976.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Tide gauges NOAA CO-OPS high tide flooding counts, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.