91 flood insurance claims·$2.2M 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 Mississippi 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 standard flooding driven by regional storm systems and unstable airmasses dominate the flood risk in Mississippi County, Arkansas, complemented by occasional tropical storm activity. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 26 flash flood events, 13 general flood events resulting in 1 death, and 1 tropical storm event. Recent flash flood events include those driven by heavy rain and training storms in April 2025, as well as convective development along slow-moving fronts and outflow boundaries in June 2025.
Federal Emergency Management Agency claim data indicates that flood risks extend across multiple zones. Zone A accounts for 35 claims with an average payout of $42,809 and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X recorded 27 claims averaging $34,977 with an average water depth of 9 inches, and unshaded Zone X recorded 26 claims averaging $9,956 with an average water depth of 7 inches. Zone UNKNOWN recorded 3 claims averaging $5,562 with an average water depth of 5 inches.
Homeowners and real estate agents with properties in Zone A should pay the closest attention to flood risks given the higher claim payout averages, while those in Zone X and unshaded Zone X must also account for significant recorded water depths during flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
43% of Mississippi County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
61 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 5 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 1997, with 26 claims and $207,439 paid, the year of Severe Storms and Tornadoes.
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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Mississippi County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 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 | Dec 10, 2021 |
| 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, And Associated Flooding | Apr 14, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 26, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
40 since 1996: 26 flash floods and 13 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 19, 2025 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Feb 15, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Feb 11, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Jun 10, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 17, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Aug 16, 2018 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 19, 2025. A very warm, moist, and unstable airmass was in place across the Mid-South ahead of an approaching cold front. Dewpoints ranged from 75 to 80 degrees across the area. As the cold front sagged south, an upper-level disturbance pushed into the region, causing an increase in shear. Convection developed along an old outflow boundary during the late afternoon and evening hours on June 18, 2025. Additional development o…
Flash Flood · Feb 15, 2025. An upper-level trough crossed the Four Corners region and dipped into northern Mexico on February 14, 2025. In response, deep southwesterly flow set up over the Lower Mississippi Valley and advected Gulf moisture poleward. Showers and thunderstorms blossomed across the region during the early morning hours on February 15, 2025. Meanwhile, a warm front quickly accelerated northward during the morning of February 15…
Flash Flood · Apr 5, 2025. The front eventually sagged south back into the Mid-South during the early morning hours of April 5th. Strong low-level moisture transport into the frontal zone resulted in heavy rain and training storms across northern sections of the Mid-South, mainly north of I-40. A bow echo developed along and just south of the slowly advancing front. This feature crossed the entire forecast area producing 13 tornadoes, inclu…
Flood · Feb 11, 2019. A slow moving storm system in the Lower Mississippi Valley produced heavy rain that caused flash flooding, extensive areal and river flooding of adjacent areas over portions of northeast Arkansas on February 11th.
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 Mississippi 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.