Sharp flood insurance hikes across south Louisiana detailed in new data

The parish, which straddles the Mississippi River down to its mouth, is at particular risk of flooding. FEMA’s data says 99.96% of the parish’s 2,413 policies included in the analysis are at risk of storm surge.

Plaquemines also includes the ZIP code with the highest projected increases in the nation. Homes in the Pointe a la Hache area, in the 70082 ZIP code, which has 18 policies included in the data, are projected to see a 1,098% boost, to an average annual premium of $8,058 from the current $673.

The parishes following Plaquemines include St. Mary at 386%, Lafourche at 321%, Terrebonne at 305% and Vermilion at 255%. Orleans is slated to see 99% increases on average, Jefferson 150% and St. Tammany 126%.

While St. Charles Parish is projected to see major increases of 239%, a closer look at specific ZIP codes reveals eye-popping numbers in some sections. Increases for the 70030 ZIP code, in the Des Allemands-Bayou Gauche area, are put at 752%.

St. Charles Parish President Matthew Jewell said the rate for his own home in Luling is projected to rise around 400%, to nearly $5,000 per year. He said his parish, like others, is supplying the attorney general with details in preparation for the lawsuit against FEMA. Jewell has also testified in Congress and spoken with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on the issue.

“The people who are going to be hit first are the poorer people,” he said. “The people who have achieved their vision of the American dream. They got into a house, they make just enough money to provide that home for their family and live in a good school district and make those ends meet, maybe save a little bit of money.”

Jewell, like other local leaders, is calling for more transparency from FEMA on how the new rates are being set. He accuses the agency of not sufficiently accounting for levees and other flood protection measures communities have built.

FEMA disputes that and says the new system is fairer for everyone. They say it is designed to accurately price the risk of each individual home rather than rely on the imperfect system of flood maps that had been used in the past.