20 flood insurance claims·$294,207 paid·3 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 Hot Spring 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 driven by severe weather and heavy rainfall dominates the flood history of Hot Spring County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 54 flash flood events, alongside 9 general flood events, 3 tropical storms, and 3 tropical depressions.
Recent occurrences illustrate these impacts. In February 2020, Malvern recorded 4.23 inches of rainfall from a passing frontal system, leading to significant liquid accumulation. Later, heavy rain on June 1, 2021, covered Highway 67 with water near Donaldson.
National Flood Insurance Program records show that properties in Zone A have experienced the highest impact, accounting for 13 claims with an average payout of $25,475 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. In contrast, Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 4 claims averaging $3,339 with an average water depth of 1 inch, Zone UNKNOWN recorded 2 claims averaging $3,961 with an average water depth of 1 inch, and Zone X recorded 1 claim with a $0 payout and an average water depth of 3 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in Zone A should pay the most attention to flood risk due to higher claim frequencies and payout amounts.
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 2025, with 3 claims and $196,079 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Tornadoes and Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
38 NOAA storm reports from Hot Spring County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
20 federal disaster declarations since 1982, 3 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 And Tornadoes | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Hurricane Laura | Aug 26, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 25, 2012 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Associated Flooding | Apr 14, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 27, 2009 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding Associated With Hurricane Gustav | Sep 2, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
69 since 1996: 54 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 1, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 29, 2020 | — |
| Tropical Storm | Aug 27, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 18, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 8, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. Severe weather, including widespread flash flooding occurred over a five day period across the entire state. This multiday event featured tornadoes, damaging winds, and very large hail. But by far and large, flash flooding and river flooding were the biggest impacts taken away from this unsettled period of weather due to total rainfall amounts between half a foot to over one foot in many locations.
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 · Jun 1, 2021. Through the first week of June, slow moving storm systems aloft, clouds, and areas of rain kept temperatures down. There was enough rain to cover Highway 67 with water near Donaldson (Hot Spring County) on the 1st. In the twenty four hour period ending at 700 am CDT on the 2nd, two to three inches of rain dumped at Antoine (Pike County), Jessieville (Garland County), and Murfreesboro (Pike County).
Flash Flood · Jun 29, 2020. While it appeared the big storms were over, there was one more round from west central into central sections of the state on the 29th. Clouds and downpours yielded high temperatures of only 77 degrees at Conway (Faulkner County) and North Little Rock (Pulaski County), 78 degrees at Cabot (Lonoke County) and Little Rock (Pulaski County), and 79 degrees at Benton (Saline County) and Malvern (Hot Spring County). Mul…
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 Hot Spring 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.