71 flood insurance claims·$1.5M paid·5 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 Crawford 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 thunderstorms and heavy rainfall dominates the flood risk profile in Crawford County, accounting for 79 events compared to 59 general flood events over the last 30 years, which included 1 recorded death. Severe weather systems and approaching upper-level disturbances have driven significant high-water events in the area, such as multiple rounds of strong thunderstorms that produced locally heavy rainfall in April 2025 and May 2022.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that high-risk Zone A properties have experienced the heaviest impact with 50 claims, an average payout of $26,125, and an average recorded water depth of 9 inches. Properties located in Zone X and unshaded Zone X designations should also pay close attention to flood risks, having logged a combined 20 claims with average payouts of $47,189 and $21,275 respectively, and average recorded water depths ranging between 1 and 2 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
11% of Crawford County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
56 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 8 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 2015, with 19 claims and $288,504 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, 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.
47 NOAA storm reports from Crawford County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 23, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 2, 2025 |
| Hurricane Laura | Aug 26, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 21, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 7, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 5, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 24, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
138 since 1996: 79 flash floods and 59 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 19, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 7, 2022 | — |
| Flood | May 5, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 5, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Apr 29, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 19, 2025. Severe thunderstorms developed over central Oklahoma along and ahead of a dry line during the afternoon of the 19th, as an upper level disturbance approached the Southern Plains. These thunderstorms moved northeast off the dry line and across portions of northwestern Arkansas during the evening hours. The atmosphere east of the dry line across northwestern Arkansas became very unstable during the afternoon and eve…
Flash Flood · Apr 4, 2025. Strong thunderstorms developed across portions of northwestern Arkansas during the early morning hours of the 4th, as lift associated with an approaching upper level disturbance increased north of a stationary front across northeastern Oklahoma and southern Arkansas. Additional rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms occurred across the area during the evening of the 4th, and then again during the early morning h…
Flash Flood · Jun 8, 2022. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms developed into west central Arkansas during the morning through early afternoon of the 8th. High water content in the air across the region promoted locally heavy rainfall from the strongest activity, which subsequently resulted in some flash flooding.
Flash Flood · Jun 7, 2022. Thunderstorms developed into west central Arkansas during the morning of the 7th. High moisture content of the air, and storms moving repeatedly across some of the same locations resulted in locally heavy rainfall and subsequently some flash flooding. The strongest storms produced damaging wind gusts.
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 Crawford 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.