35 flood insurance claims·$484,500 paid·4 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Boone County, Arkansas. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding from severe weather events dominates the flood history of Boone County, accounting for 40 out of 42 recorded flood events over the last 30 years according to the NOAA Storm Events Database. This risk is driven by stationary frontal systems that stall across northern Arkansas and produce significant rainfall totals, as observed during recent events in November 2024 and June 2023.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that historical claims are concentrated in designated high-risk areas. Zone A properties account for the majority of claims with 28 filings, resulting in an average payout of $28,531 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Moderate- and low-risk areas have experienced fewer impacts, with Zone X recording 4 claims averaging $14,041 with an average water depth of 3 inches, and Zone X_SHADED recording 1 claim with an average payout of $374 and 0 inches of recorded water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, as these areas bear the heaviest burden of historical flood claims and payouts in the county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Boone County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
29 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 3 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2011, with 13 claims and $141,173 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
12 NOAA storm reports from Boone County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 2, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 24, 2024 |
| Hurricane Laura | Aug 26, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 26, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Aug 8, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Associated Flooding | Apr 14, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
42 since 1996: 40 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 4, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 13, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 21, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2017 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 7, 2016 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 5, 2016 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2025. Heavy rainfall caused isolated flooding over portions of north central Arkansas.
Flash Flood · Nov 4, 2024. A cold front became a stationary front and stalled out across northern Arkansas leading to significant rainfall totals across northern Arkansas which led to numerous reports of flash flooding and significant rainfall totals.
Flash Flood · Jun 8, 2023. A stationary front parked across the state of Arkansas coupled in tandem with an upper level pattern that kept the Natural State just ahead of an approaching trough. The result were the severe weather modes of flash flooding, severe hail, and severe winds.
Flash Flood · Apr 13, 2022. A strong storm system brought multiple rounds of severe weather that led to fairly widespread rainfall and eventually river flooding. One round of severe weather occurred on Monday, April 11th. Large, individual thunderstorms known as supercells developed along the Arkansas River valley of western Arkansas. As these storms slowly drifted east, they produced four tornadoes across Sebastian, Franklin and Logan Count…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Boone County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.