456 flood insurance claims·$3.7M 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 Phillips 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 drive the flood risk profile in Phillips County, shaped by 12 flash flood events, 6 general flood events, and 1 tropical storm over the last 30 years. Heavy rain events can occur throughout the year, such as multiple rounds of rain that flooded roads across the county in December 2020, and heavy rainfall from an upper-level low system that caused flash flooding in East-Central Arkansas on June 9, 2021.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate claims across multiple zones, with the highest volume concentrated in Zone A at 284 claims averaging a 2-inch recorded water depth and $9,333 in payouts. Unshaded Zone X accounts for 74 claims with an average 2-inch water depth and $6,909 payouts, while Zone X claims average a 3-inch water depth with $34,046 payouts across 31 claims.
Homeowners and real estate agents working in Zone A and unshaded Zone X should pay the closest attention to property risk, as these areas account for the vast majority of historical flood insurance claims in the county.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
24% of Phillips County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
376 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 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 1980, with 77 claims and $492,004 paid.
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.
6 NOAA storm reports from Phillips County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
18 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 |
| Hurricane Laura | Aug 26, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Straight-line Winds | Apr 12, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Mar 8, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Associated Flooding | Apr 14, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 27, 2009 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | May 2, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
19 since 1996: 12 flash floods and 6 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2021 | — |
| Flood | Dec 31, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2020 | $50,000 |
| Flood | Apr 13, 2019 | — |
| Flood | Feb 22, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 20, 2011 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2011 | $200,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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…
Flash Flood · Jun 9, 2021. An upper low continued to meander across the region on June 9, 2021. Weak upper-level disturbances rotated around the upper low and interacted with a very moist air mass across the Mid-South to produce several rounds of heavy rain across East-Central Arkansas and North Mississippi. There were several instances of flash flooding.
Flood · Dec 31, 2020. Several rounds of rain moved across east-central Arkansas late in 2020. A few roads were flooded across Phillips County.
Flash Flood · Jun 23, 2020. A cold front sagged into the Mid-South and stalled across east-central Arkansas into northwest Mississippi. A strongly unstable airmass combined with enough wind shear to produce numerous thunderstorms. One became severe and produced damaging winds in Helena - West Helena along with some flash flooding.
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 Phillips 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.