23 flood insurance claims·$191,764 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 Polk 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 from heavy rainfall events dominates the flood risk profile in Polk County, accounting for 64 out of 66 recorded flood events over the last 30 years, alongside two general flood events.
Heavy
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 4 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 2013, with 8 claims and $85,987 paid, the year of 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.
30 NOAA storm reports from Polk County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
24 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 3 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 Winter Storm | Dec 5, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 30, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Associated Flooding | Apr 14, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
66 since 1996: 64 flash floods and 2 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 24, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 16, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 29, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 27, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 12, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 12, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 1, 2020 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Mar 24, 2023. Several inches of rain fell across Arkansas associated with a storm system moving across the region. Flash flooding and some severe weather was noted.
Flash Flood · Mar 16, 2023. A strong storm system moved across Arkansas late in the day on the 16th bringing heavy rainfall to western and southwestern Arkansas.
Flash Flood · May 25, 2021. Abundant moisture/high humidity relocated to the Plains from the 20th to the 23rd, and we dried out temporarily. It did not last, with moisture shifting in this direction by the 25th. Early in the day, thunderstorms east of Oklahoma City, OK weakened, and left behind a system aloft. This mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) initiated new thunderstorms over the Ouachita Mountains in the afternoon.||It was a gullywashe…
Flash Flood · Aug 29, 2020. The heat/humidity energized the environment on the 29th, and this happened as a cold front slowly approached from Missouri. Ahead of the front, strong to severe thunderstorms popped up in northern Arkansas in the afternoon. There was an estimated 60 mph wind gust just northeast of Damascus (Van Buren County) and a 70 mph gust at Alicia (Lawrence County). Trees were blown down at the latter location, and also at Ly…
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 Polk 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.