1,720 flood insurance claims·$30.2M 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 Pulaski 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 dominates the flood history of Pulaski County, accounting for the vast majority of recorded events over the last 30 years alongside standard river floods, tropical storms, and tropical depressions. Recent events highlight this threat, notably a multiday severe weather period in April 2025 that brought tornadoes, damaging winds, and widespread flash and river flooding driven by rainfall totals ranging from half a foot to over one foot in many locations.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data demonstrates that risk extends across multiple zones, with the highest volume of claims concentrated in Zone A at 1,101 claims with an average payout of $26,027 and an average recorded water depth of 5 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 192 claims with an average payout of $34,455 and an average water depth of 20 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, which accounts for the vast majority of historical insurance claims, as well as properties in Zone X that experienced the highest average recorded water depths.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
18% of Pulaski County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,341 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 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 2009, with 220 claims and $7.9M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding and Severe Storms 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.
120 NOAA storm reports from Pulaski County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
33 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 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 31, 2023 |
| Hurricane Laura | Aug 26, 2020 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | May 21, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 26, 2017 |
| Severe Storms,tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 27, 2014 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 25, 2012 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
275 since 1996: 237 flash floods and 32 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | $1,000 |
| Flash Flood | Aug 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 7, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 3, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 30, 2025. A round of severe weather moved into Arkansas on the evening of April 30th into the 1st of May. Damaging winds were the primary threat over the western two-thirds of the state.
Flash Flood · Aug 28, 2025. Heavy rains impacted portions of the state along a narrow corridor oriented from northwest Arkansas, to central Arkansas, into portions of southeast Arkansas.
Flash Flood · May 25, 2025. Heavy rains brought isolated flash flooding to portions of Arkansas.
Flash Flood · Jun 7, 2025. A cold front swept from northwest to southeast across Arkansas which initiated strong to severe thunderstorms ahead of the line. Of these storms, some would reach severe criteria producing a swath of wind damage and numerous instances of flash flooding across the state of Arkansas.
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 Pulaski 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.