Louisiana Hurricane History Demonstrates Need to Prepare For Upcoming Season 

Release Date: May 30, 2012
Release Number: R6-12-098

» 2012 Region VI News Releases

DENTON, Texas — Sixteen hurricanes and six tropical storms since 1956, which resulted in federal disaster declarations, serve as reminders to Louisianans that now is the time to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season.

The 2012 Hurricane Season begins on June 1, and while experts are predicting a slower season than in past years, most of the predictions still call for at least a normal amount of activity. The 50 year average is a little over 11 named storms, six of those becoming hurricanes and two becoming major ones – Category 3 or higher. In the last 55 years, Louisiana has had 22 storms that resulted in federal declarations. Sixteen were hurricanes and six were tropical storms.

The hurricanes were two unnamed storms (1956 & 1957), Hilda (1964), Betsy (1965), Camille (1969), Edith (1971), Carmen (1974), Juan (1985), Andrew (1992), Georges (1998), Lili (2002), Ivan (2004), Katrina (2005) Rita (2005), Gustav (2008), and Ike (2008). The tropical storms were Allison (1989), Frances (1998), Allison (2001), Isidore (2002), Cindy (2005), and Lee (2011).

Six of the hurricanes and four of the tropical storms occurred in the last decade and resulted in Louisiana receiving more than $35.5 billion in federal disaster aid. That assistance fell under both the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Public Assistance (PA) and Individuals and Households (IHP) programs and included funding for direct housing, crisis counseling, disaster legal services, disaster unemployment, and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) low-interest disaster loans.

“These statistics more than demonstrate the need for all Louisianans to be prepared,” said Acting FEMA Region 6 Administrator Tony Robinson. “We say it often, but it’s the best way to get a clear message out there – Get a Kit, Make a Plan and Stay Informed.

For more information on the upcoming hurricane season, please visit www.ready.gov/hurricanes and www.nhc.noaa.gov/prepare.

Volunteering is one way to be prepared to help others. Use VolunteerMatch to locate local Red Cross volunteer opportunities in your community. You can also visit www.citizencorps.gov for ways to help and be prepared.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Last Modified: Thursday, 31-May-2012 10:49:06