10 flood insurance claims·$377,039 paid·5 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 Pike 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 dominates the flood history of Pike County, accounting for 37 out of 45 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside lesser impacts from tropical systems and standard floods.
Historical impacts are demonstrated by severe weather events in May 2020 and April 2025. The April 2025 event involved a multiday period of severe weather that produced tornadoes, damaging winds, large hail, and widespread flash and river flooding driven by rainfall totals ranging from half a foot to over one foot.
NFIP claims data shows payouts occurring across multiple zones, including Zone X with 4 claims averaging a $47,288 payout and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches, and Zone A with 3 claims averaging a $50,347 payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Homeowners and real estate professionals in both high-risk Special Flood Hazard Areas like Zone A and moderate-to-low risk areas like Zone X should pay close attention to these localized flood risks.
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 6 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 2010, with 4 claims and $316,873 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.
28 NOAA storm reports from Pike County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
23 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 5 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, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 7, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Associated Flooding | Apr 14, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 27, 2009 |
| Tropical Storm Ike | Sep 13, 2008 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
45 since 1996: 37 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 26, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 23, 2020 | $200,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 16, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 28, 2018 | — |
| Flood | Feb 21, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 9, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 20, 2016 | — |
— = 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 · Aug 26, 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…
Flash Flood · May 23, 2020. Thunderstorm gusts from 60 to more than 80 mph blew through eastern sections of the state during the afternoon of the 22nd. Trees were toppled (some on houses) in Morton (Woodruff County). Earlier in the day, at least six house fires were triggered by lightning in the Little Rock (Pulaski County) area.||Scattered afternoon and evening severe storms unleashed more wind on the 25th from southwest into central Arkans…
Flash Flood · Jul 16, 2019. While it appeared we dodged a bullet, Barry had one last card to play. As the system exited to the north, some forecast models indicated a potential of over ten inches of rain southwest of Little Rock (Pulaski County) during the wee hours of the 16th. Given an underwhelming event thus far, this much rain seemed a little far fetched. But because data did not back down, and kept showing impressive totals, it was dif…
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 Pike 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.