Flood Zones & Insurance in Houma, Thibodaux, & The Bayou Region

Flood Insurance Is Not Included in Your Homeowners Policy

A standard homeowners policy does not cover flood damage. When water enters a home from the ground up, whether from hurricane storm surge, heavy rainfall, or overflowing drainage canals, only a separate flood insurance policy will pay for the repairs. Homeowners insurance generally covers fire, wind, theft, and liability, while flood insurance covers rising water damage to the structure and, if you add contents coverage, to your belongings.

Because the two policies protect against different risks, buyers should confirm their flood coverage before closing, particularly in a region that has experienced storms such as Hurricane Ida in 2021.

What Flood Insurance Covers

According to FEMA’s summary of coverage, a standard flood insurance policy through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides building coverage of up to $250,000 for a residential structure. It protects the structure and foundation, the electrical and plumbing systems, HVAC equipment and water heaters, built in appliances such as dishwashers, permanently installed carpeting over an unfinished floor, and fixed paneling, cabinets, and window blinds. It also covers debris removal, and detached garages are covered up to 10 percent of the building coverage amount.

Equally important is what the policy does not cover. Detached buildings other than garages require their own policy. Landscaping and outdoor features such as trees, plants, wells, septic systems, decks, patios, fences, and pools are excluded, as are most vehicles. Personal belongings such as furniture, clothing, and electronics are covered only if you purchase separate contents coverage, and temporary housing and other living expenses are not covered.

Are You Required to Buy Flood Insurance?

The requirement depends on your flood zone and your financing. If a home is in a high risk zone such as Zone AE or VE and you have a federally backed mortgage, your lender will require flood insurance. In a moderate or low risk zone, coverage is technically optional, but it is strongly recommended in this region because flooding can and does occur outside high risk zones. If you purchase without a mortgage, coverage is your decision, although flood damage will not be covered without it.

Understanding Flood Zones in Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish

FEMA maps flood zones across the country. In our area, you will commonly encounter three designations.

Zone X. This zone carries moderate to minimal flood risk. Lenders do not require flood insurance here, but coverage is still a wise consideration in South Louisiana.

Zone AE. This is a high risk zone, and flood insurance is required with a federally backed mortgage. FEMA has detailed elevation data for these areas, so an elevation certificate can significantly affect your premium.

Zone A. This is also a high risk zone with the same insurance requirement as Zone AE, but FEMA has less detailed data for these areas. Without detailed elevation studies, lenders and insurers often rely on worst case assumptions, which can mean higher premiums unless an elevation certificate is completed.

You can look up the flood zone of any address using FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center.

How the New FEMA Maps Affect Terrebonne Parish

On September 7, 2023, new FEMA flood maps took effect in Terrebonne Parish, replacing maps that dated to 1985. The Parish Council voted 8 to 1 on August 23, 2023 to adopt them, even though council members disagreed with them. The parish’s Planning and Zoning Director, Christopher Pulaski, had warned that refusing could lead FEMA to place the parish on probation and ultimately remove it from the NFIP, which would leave residents unable to obtain home loans. In his words, “it will shut down everything in Terrebonne Parish.”

Local officials raised a specific concern. The maps rely on a July 2019 data cutoff, so flood protection projects completed after that date are not reflected in them. The parish stated that it is pursuing a Community Letter of Map Revision to account for those improvements.

Parish President Gordon Dove, who was in office at the time, pointed to the Morganza to the Gulf system, which he described as $1.4 billion in infrastructure with pumps, and said FEMA does not credit it because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not build or certify it. He noted that Hurricane Rita in 2005 flooded about 11,000 homes before the pumps were in place, while Hurricane Barry in 2019 flooded 11 homes after they were installed. According to local coverage of the meeting, Terrebonne and Lafourche are also among the Louisiana parishes that filed a lawsuit against FEMA over Risk Rating 2.0. For current map information, see the Terrebonne Parish floodplain page.

What About Lafourche Parish and Thibodaux?

Lafourche Parish is going through a separate map update. On October 31, 2024, FEMA released revised preliminary flood maps for the parish, which represent its first complete set of digital flood maps. Because map status can change, confirm the current effective date and a property’s zone with the Lafourche Parish floodplain office and FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center.

What This Means for Buyers

According to local reporting, the new Terrebonne maps changed flood zones in different ways: special flood hazard areas grew in some places, shrank in others, and stayed the same elsewhere. A property may now sit in a higher or lower risk zone than it once did, so before you make an offer, look up its current zone and request an elevation certificate.

Why Flood Insurance Costs Have Changed

The insurance market in South Louisiana has shifted, largely because of Risk Rating 2.0, FEMA’s updated method for calculating NFIP premiums. It applied to new policies beginning October 1, 2021, and to all remaining policies renewing on or after April 1, 2022.

Under the previous system, a premium depended mostly on the flood zone in which a property sat. Under Risk Rating 2.0, FEMA prices each home individually, using factors such as elevation, distance to water, flood frequency, foundation type, and replacement cost. Many South Louisiana policyholders have seen their premiums increase. It also means that a home in a technically lower risk zone can still carry a higher premium because of its proximity to water or its replacement cost, factors unrelated to how often the property actually floods.

If the seller has an existing NFIP policy, ask about having it assigned to you. According to the National Association of REALTORS, policyholders can transfer discounts by assigning their policy to the new owner, while a new policy is rated individually under Risk Rating 2.0. Requesting the seller’s current policy and premium allows you to compare it with a new quote.

How Much Does Flood Insurance Cost?

Premiums vary considerably from one property to the next. The primary factors include the home’s flood zone, its elevation above the Base Flood Elevation (the higher the better), its age and construction type, whether you carry building coverage, contents coverage, or both, and whether you insure through the NFIP or a private flood insurer.

Because Risk Rating 2.0 prices each home individually, the most reliable approach is to obtain an actual quote for any property before you make an offer, and to ask early so there are no surprises at closing.

LOMAs: Correcting the Flood Map for a Single Property

A FEMA map showing a property in a high risk flood zone does not always mean the home sits below the Base Flood Elevation. Flood maps are drawn from engineering data, and some properties on naturally high ground end up mapped inside the Special Flood Hazard Area.

A Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) addresses that situation. It is an official amendment to FEMA’s flood map that establishes a property’s location in relation to the Special Flood Hazard Area, usually issued because the property was inadvertently mapped as being in the floodplain but is actually on natural high ground above the Base Flood Elevation. If FEMA approves a LOMA, the home is officially shown as outside the Special Flood Hazard Area, which can remove the federal requirement to carry flood insurance on a federally backed mortgage. Your lender may still require or recommend coverage, and flood insurance can protect you either way.

To qualify, you generally need an elevation certificate from a licensed surveyor showing that the home sits above the Base Flood Elevation, documentation that the home sits on natural ground rather than fill, and a FEMA application submitted online or by mail. If fill was used, a different process, a Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill, applies.

Even with a LOMA in hand, carrying a policy is worth considering in South Louisiana, since flooding can occur outside high risk zones and a share of flood claims come from properties outside the Special Flood Hazard Area. This is especially relevant in Zone A, which relies on less detailed FEMA data and is more likely to be inaccurate for a given property. As your Realtor, I can help you determine whether a property may be a strong LOMA candidate before you close.

Elevation Certificates and Why They Matter

An elevation certificate documents how high a home sits relative to the Base Flood Elevation (BFE). It is also used when requesting a LOMA, and it is a valuable document to share with your insurance agent.

If a home has been elevated above the BFE, ask your agent how that affects the premium. Sellers may already have an elevation certificate on file, and if none exists, a licensed surveyor can prepare one. Request this document early in the buying process.

FEMA Grants for Elevated or At Risk Homes

If a home has flooded repeatedly and has NFIP claims on record, it may be a candidate for FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program, which can help fund elevating, acquiring, or relocating NFIP insured homes.

Several conditions apply. States and local governments apply to FEMA rather than individual owners, so begin with the parish floodplain office, and the home must be insured under the NFIP to be eligible. The federal share is generally 75 percent, up to 90 percent for repetitive loss properties, and up to 100 percent for severe repetitive loss properties. Funding and timelines change from year to year, so ask the parish and your insurance agent what is available before you treat a flood history as a dealbreaker.

Questions to Ask Before You Buy

Before you close on a home in Houma, Thibodaux, & The Bayou Region, make sure you can answer the following. What flood zone is the property in, and is there an elevation certificate showing what it reports? Does the home have a history of NFIP flood claims, which the seller or their insurance agent can tell you? Is the current flood insurance policy transferable? What are the drainage conditions in the neighborhood, and have neighbors or nearby streets flooded in recent years?

As your Realtor, I help my buyers obtain these answers before they make one of the largest purchases of their lives.

Final Thoughts

South Louisiana is a wonderful place to live and raise a family, and with accurate information about flood zones and insurance, you can choose a home and protect it properly. If you are considering a purchase in Houma, Thibodaux, or the surrounding area, I would welcome the opportunity to review the flood zone and insurance considerations for any property you are evaluating before you make an offer.