16 flood insurance claims·$145,456 paid·2 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 Grant 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 dominates the flood history of Grant County, accounting for 37 out of 50 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside standard floods, tropical storms, and tropical depressions.
Heavy rainfall events have repeatedly triggered significant inundation across the region, such as the flash floods recorded in February and June 2021, as well as February 2020. These storms are frequently driven by cold fronts clashing with warm, humid air masses, dumping multiple inches of rain in short timeframes and covering roads with water.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that flood impacts extend across multiple zones, with Zone A recording 11 claims at an average payout of $13,636 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Zone X Unshaded recorded 3 claims averaging $8,275 with an average water depth of 2 inches, while Zone X recorded 2 claims averaging $3,092 with an average water depth of 1 inch. Property owners in Zone A face the highest frequency and severity of claims, making vigilance essential for residents located within designated special flood hazard areas.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 2 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 6 claims and $33,741 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.
29 NOAA storm reports from Grant County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
19 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 2 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 Winter Storm | Dec 25, 2012 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Dec 23, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Oct 29, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
50 since 1996: 37 flash floods and 7 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 18, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2021 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 18, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 2, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Feb 28, 2021. Heavy rain brought flash flooding to parts of Arkansas on February the 28th. By the 28th, thermometers were in the mid to upper 70s across the central and southern counties. It was 76 degrees at Little Rock (Pulaski County) and Monticello (Drew County). It certainly felt like spring, and thunderstorms were back in the forecast.||Storms were sparked by a new cold front that penetrated into northwest Arkansas by lun…
Flash Flood · May 18, 2021. Early on the 17th, over four inches of rain came down in a hurry across southern Perry and northwest Saline Counties. A couple of miles southwest of Houston (Perry County), water inundated Highway 216. It was the same story to start the next morning in western White and northern Lonoke Counties. This time, Highway 319 was flooded two miles northwest of Ward (Lonoke County). A few trees were knocked down on the 18t…
Flash Flood · Jun 8, 2021. Hit and miss thunderstorms ramped up on the 6th. Two to more than three inches of rain was measured at Cane Creek State Park (Lincoln County), Fordyce (Dallas County), Monticello (Drew County), Nashville (Howard County), and Pine Bluff (Jefferson County). Several roads were under water between Avilla (Saline County) and Ferndale (Pulaski County), and also at Monticello (Drew County).||During the predawn hours of t…
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 Grant 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.