59 flood insurance claims·$1.4M 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 Bradley 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 and river flooding driven by heavy rainfall and tropical systems dominate the flood history of Bradley County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 27 flash flood events, 12 flood events resulting in 1 death, 4 tropical storm events, and 2 tropical depression events.
Recent events illustrate these hazards. In August 2020, Tropical Storm Laura brought severe impacts to the region as it moved ashore from the Gulf of Mexico. Multiday heavy rainfall also caused significant river flooding, such as the event in April 2025 that kept points along the Ouachita and other rivers in flood through the remainder of the month.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that properties in Zone A face the highest risk, accounting for 48 claims with an average payout of $33,608 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. By comparison, Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 6 claims with an average payout of $16,779 and an average water depth of 1 inch, while Zone X recorded 4 claims averaging $11,529 with an average water depth of 1 inch. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 1 claim with a $7,402 payout and an average water depth of 4 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties located within Zone A and near rivers, where historical payouts and water depths are highest.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Bradley County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
54 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 6 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 2009, with 20 claims and $286,387 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding and Severe Storms and 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.
17 NOAA storm reports from Bradley County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 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 Winter Storm | Jan 30, 2023 |
| Hurricane Laura | Aug 26, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | Apr 12, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 8, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Associated Flooding | Apr 14, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
45 since 1996: 27 flash floods and 12 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 8, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 3, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 27, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2020 | $10,000 |
| Tropical Storm | Oct 10, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 13, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Feb 26, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 8, 2025. Heavy rainfall over a multiday period brought flooding to many rivers across Arkansas. Points along the White, Black, Cache, and Ouachita Rivers remained in flood through the remainder of the month.
Flash Flood · Jul 3, 2022. Persistent heavy rainfall brought flash flooding to the southern part of the state.
Flash Flood · Aug 27, 2020. Tropical Storm Laura moved ashore from the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron, LA, around 1200 AM CST on August 27, 2020 with 150 mph sustained winds! This part of the state had never experienced such a powerful (Category 4) hurricane. Measured gusts exceeded 130 mph in Lake Charles, LA. Not only was there widespread structural damage, a television tower was destroyed and the WSR-88D (Doppler Weather Radar) at the local…
Tropical Storm · Aug 27, 2020. Tropical Storm Laura moved ashore from the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron, LA, around 1200 AM CST on August 27, 2020 with 150 mph sustained winds! This part of the state had never experienced such a powerful (Category 4) hurricane. Measured gusts exceeded 130 mph in Lake Charles, LA. Not only was there widespread structural damage, a television tower was destroyed and the WSR-88D (Doppler Weather Radar) at the local…
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 Bradley 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.