71 flood insurance claims·$2.4M paid·8 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 Izard 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 from heavy rainfall events dominate the flood profile in Izard County, supported by NOAA records showing 24 flash flood and 15 general flood events over the last 30 years, alongside occasional tropical systems.
Recent historic impacts include a multiday severe weather and heavy rainfall event in April 2025 that brought widespread flash flooding and prolonged river flooding across Arkansas, with total rainfall amounts ranging from half a foot to over one foot in many locations. A previous major heavy rain event at the end of April 2017 also resulted in significant flooding, particularly hitting northeast Arkansas.
Homeowners and real estate agents should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of local NFIP claims with 55 filings averaging a recorded water depth of 44 inches and an average payout of $31,783. Properties in unshaded Zone X areas also warrant close attention, having recorded 9 claims with a higher average payout of $78,284 and an average recorded water depth of 15 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
15% of Izard County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
65 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 37 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 2008, with 38 claims and $1.4M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding and Tropical Storm Ike.
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 Izard County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
31 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 8 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 Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 26, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 7, 2015 |
| Severe Storms,tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 27, 2014 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
43 since 1996: 24 flash floods and 15 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 8, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Apr 30, 2017 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2017 | — |
| Flood | Dec 28, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 17, 2015 | — |
| Flood | May 12, 2015 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 27, 2014 | $150,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 4, 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.
Flood · Apr 4, 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 8, 2023. Heavy to excessive rain was in the forecast on February 7th/8th, especially in northern and western Arkansas. This was ahead of a storm system in the southern Plains, and north of a nearly stationary front draped across central sections of the state. South of the front, increasing warmth/moisture set the stage for the possibility of severe thunderstorms toward evening on the 8th.||The placement of the front was ob…
Flood · Apr 30, 2017. Heavy rain was noted in most of the area at the end of April 2017. The heavy rain led to major flooding in some areas. Northeast Arkansas was especially hard hit.
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 Izard 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.