Empire, LA Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
Hot Rankings
The chance of earthquake damage in Empire is about the same as Louisiana average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Empire is much lower than Louisiana average and is much lower than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #540
| Empire, LA | 0.00 |
| Louisiana | 0.03 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Empire, LA | 0.0000 |
| Louisiana | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #583
| Empire, LA | 62.25 |
| Louisiana | 235.86 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 489 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Empire, LA were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 0 | Cold: | 0 | Dense Fog: | 1 | Drought: | 0 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 52 | Hail: | 74 | Heat: | 0 | Heavy Snow: | 0 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 0 | Ice Storm: | 0 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 1 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 287 | Tropical Storm: | 0 | Wildfire: | 0 | Winter Storm: | 0 | Winter Weather: | 0 |
| Other: | 74 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Empire, LA.
Historical Earthquake Events
No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Empire, LA.
No historical earthquake events found in or near Empire, LA.
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 19 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Empire, LA.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 8.1 | 1965-03-01 | 2 | 29°21'N / 89°32'W | 0.50 Mile | 67 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Plaquemines | |
| 8.1 | 1967-10-30 | 2 | 29°21'N / 89°32'W | 0.20 Mile | 10 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Plaquemines | |
| 13.5 | 1967-10-30 | 2 | 29°36'N / 89°45'W | 1.00 Mile | 10 Yards | 0 | 5 | 250K | 0 | Plaquemines | |
| 34.1 | 1970-10-13 | 2 | 29°42'N / 90°06'W | 1.00 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Jefferson | |
| 41.8 | 2005-04-06 | 2 | 29°06'N / 90°12'W | 29°07'N / 90°11'W | 2.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Lafourche |
| Brief Description: A waterspout moved onshore as a multi vortex tornado in Port Fourchon resulting in damage to approximately 12 structures, including several port buildings and three businesses. A few buildings sustained significant damage. Two persons suffered minor injuries. Several hundred vehicles were damage either by flying debris, or with windows blown out. Approximately one mile of power lines were downed along Louisiana Highway 3090 which leads to Port Fourchon. | |||||||||||
| 41.9 | 1995-05-08 | 2 | 29°57'N / 90°00'W | 0.80 Mile | 40 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | St. Bernard | |
| Brief Description: A strong tornado touched down briefly overturning eight railroad tank cars and heavily damaging several commercial buildings. Property damage was estimated. Tornado path width and length estimated. St Tammany Parish | |||||||||||
| 42.7 | 1951-09-27 | 2 | 29°52'N / 90°08'W | 1.00 Mile | 20 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Jefferson | |
| 42.9 | 1983-04-22 | 2 | 29°54'N / 90°06'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 3 | 250K | 0 | Jefferson | |
| 43.6 | 2007-02-13 | 2 | 29°54'N / 90°07'W | 2.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 9 | 2.0M | 0K | Jefferson | |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado moved along a northerly path from Lapalco Boulevard to the Mississippi River roughly following Avenue C and Avenue D. Significant damage was observed to residential and commercial structures that indicated an intensity in the mid to upper range of an EF 2 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with winds estimated to be in the 125-130 mph range. Some of the most impressive structural damage observed was to an older, two story motel building which had its roof removed and a portion of the second floor walls caved in. The tornado crossed the Mississippi River into Orleans Parish. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Isolated supercell thunderstorms developed in the early morning hours over sections of southeast Louisiana well in advance of a squall line associated with a strong upper air storm system and cold front moving through the lower Mississippi Valley. These rogue rotating supercell storms produced tornadoes as well as large hail and isolated wind damage. A tornado in Jefferson Parish destroyed 23 houses and damaged 231 others. Tornadoes in Orleans Parish destroyed 32 houses and damaged 295 others. | |||||||||||
| 43.6 | 1981-06-22 | 2 | 29°57'N / 90°03'W | 2.30 Miles | 20 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Orleans | |
| 43.8 | 1953-07-17 | 2 | 29°57'N / 90°02'W | 30°01'N / 89°58'W | 6.40 Miles | 33 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Orleans |
| 45.5 | 2006-02-02 | 2 | 29°57'N / 90°06'W | 29°57'N / 90°06'W | 2.50 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 500K | 0 | Orleans |
| Brief Description: The tornado which moved through the east portions of Metaire continued to move northeast through the Lakeview and Lakefront neighborhoods of New Orleans. The area where the tornado impacted had previously been flooded by Hurricane Katrina, and most homes were unoccupied. Several homes suffered substantial damage to roofs, windows blown out, and power poles blown down. Several two story homes suffered substantial damage to the second floor with roof removed and walls blown out. A large communication tower was toppled at a former state policebuilding. The tornado moved into Lake Pontchartrain as a waterspout. | |||||||||||
| 45.6 | 2007-02-13 | 2 | 29°54'N / 90°09'W | 29°58'N / 90°06'W | 6.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 15 | 2.0M | 0K | Orleans |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado crossed the Mississippi River form Jefferson Parish and moved on a northerly course through portions of the Uptown and Carrollton areas with continuous damage noted. The damage path became isolated as the tornado appeared to turn more northeast with damage to a warehouse noted in the Mid City area. Significant damage was observed to houses and commercial structures. The roofs and portions of roofs were removed from a number of houses. The collapse of some exterior walls was also noted. The damage observed indicated an intensity in the mid to upper range of an EF 2 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with winds estimated to be in the 125-130 mph range. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Isolated supercell thunderstorms developed in the early morning hours over sections of southeast Louisiana well in advance of a squall line associated with a strong upper air storm system and cold front moving through the lower Mississippi Valley. These rogue rotating supercell storms produced tornadoes as well as large hail and isolated wind damage. A tornado in Jefferson Parish destroyed 23 houses and damaged 231 others. Tornadoes in Orleans Parish destroyed 32 houses and damaged 295 others. | |||||||||||
| 46.3 | 2007-02-13 | 2 | 30°00'N / 90°03'W | 30°01'N / 90°01'W | 1.00 Mile | 50 Yards | 1 | 10 | 1.0M | 0K | Orleans |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado touched down just south of the intersections of Franklin Avenue and Prentiss Street and moved east northeast across the southern portion of Pontchartrain Park to the Industrial Canal. Roofs were blown off of several homes and the upper portions of two story houses were partially collapsed. One fatality occurred when a travel trailer was destroyed and the 86 year old occupant was fatally injured. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Isolated supercell thunderstorms developed in the early morning hours over sections of southeast Louisiana well in advance of a squall line associated with a strong upper air storm system and cold front moving through the lower Mississippi Valley. These rogue rotating supercell storms produced tornadoes as well as large hail and isolated wind damage. A tornado in Jefferson Parish destroyed 23 houses and damaged 231 others. Tornadoes in Orleans Parish destroyed 32 houses and damaged 295 others. | |||||||||||
| 46.4 | 1998-09-10 | 2 | 29°33'N / 90°21'W | 29°34'N / 90°24'W | 4.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 1 | 6 | 500K | 0 | Lafourche |
| Brief Description: M22MH A tropical depression in the western Gulf of Mexico was classified as Tropical Storm Frances during the afternoon of September 9th. After a period of erratic movement, Frances settled on a northwest track that brought it ashore in the early morning hours of September 11th between Port Aransas and Port Oconner, Texas. Due to the large pressure difference between Tropical Storm Frances and a high pressure system over the eastern United States, a prolonged period of strong east and southeast winds that occasionally reached tropical storm force affected coastal sections of southeast Louisiana. Peak wind gusts of 60 mph at 1029 CST on the 10th and 55 mph at 1826 PM on the 10th were recorded at the Burrwood and Grand Isle C-MAN stations, respectively. A wind gust of 62 mph was observed at a buoy in eastern Lake Pontchartrain near the Rigolets during a squall at 1510 CST on the 11th. Significant tidal flooding occurred during the event with tides averaging 2 to 4 feet above normal along the southeast Louisiana coastline and in Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas. The persistent strong winds and resulting high tides pushed a considerable amount of water into the tidal lakes of southeast Louisiana parishes and well inland along marshes, bayous, and other low-lying areas. This resulted in a number of homes outside of the levee protection systems being flooded and caused the flooding of many roadways. The most severe flooding occurred in Terrebonne, Lafourche, and lower Jefferson Parishes. Many businesses along the Harvey Canal in Jefferson Parish were damaged due to storm surge flooding, and the levee along the canal was nearly overtopped. In addition, very heavy rainfall occurred with most locations of southeast Louisiana receiving a minimum of 5 inches during the storm with some areas south of Lake Pontchartrain receiving 15 to 30 inches of rain. The heavy rainfall resulted in widespread flash flooding south of Lake Pontchartrain. The flash flooding peaked on September 11th when intense rainfall associated with a Tropical Storm Francis rainband resulted in rainfall amounts of 5 to 7 inches within a two to three hours period over portions of the greater New Orleans area. By late afternoon, rainfall totals had reached from 8 to 12 inches. Rainfall runoff overwhelmed drainage pumping capacity producing widespread and deep flooding in the streets of the New Orleans metropolitan area. Ground transportation throughout much of Orleans Parish and portions of adjacent parishes was brought to a near standstill during the afternoon by the flooding, stranding many at work, school, or in autos. The street flooding subsided during the evening. Around 800 homes and 30 businesses were flooded in Jefferson Parish from either storm surge flooding outside of the hurricane protection levees and flash flooding from heavy rainfall. In Orleans Parish at least 290 single family homes and 124 apartments and businesses were flooded. A tornado developed in an outer rainband associated with Tropical Storm Francis on the evening of September 10th and followed a path approximately 4 miles long from near Cut Off to Larose killing a 22 year old male in a mobile home. The most severe damage occurred in the first one half to three quarters mile of the path. Several mobile homes were destroyed, 3 conventional houses had roofs taken off, two houses were moved off their piling foundation, and two businesses suffered extensive damage. The tornado was strongest near the beginning of the track where F2 damage occurred. Over the remainder of the track, F1 damage was reported. | |||||||||||
| 46.5 | 1964-10-03 | 4 | 29°36'N / 90°22'W | 1.50 Miles | 67 Yards | 22 | 165 | 2.5M | 0 | Lafourche | |
| 47.0 | 1964-10-03 | 2 | 29°58'N / 90°07'W | 30°02'N / 90°01'W | 7.70 Miles | 83 Yards | 0 | 2 | 2.5M | 0 | Orleans |
| 48.1 | 1964-10-03 | 2 | 29°56'N / 90°13'W | 29°58'N / 90°07'W | 6.50 Miles | 83 Yards | 0 | 3 | 2.5M | 0 | Jefferson |
| 48.5 | 1971-03-10 | 2 | 30°00'N / 90°07'W | 30°00'N / 90°06'W | 1.30 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Orleans |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.