421 flood insurance claims·$19.0M paid·4 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 Sebastian 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 thunderstorms dominates the flood history of Sebastian County. Over the last 30 years, NOAA recorded 106 flash flood events resulting in 2 deaths, compared to 36 general flood events resulting in 1 death. Severe thunderstorms producing locally heavy rainfall have impacted the area recently, including multiple rounds of storms in April 2025 and severe weather events associated with a cold front passage in March 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims across multiple zones, with the highest volume concentrated in high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 267 claims with an average payout of $69,378 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Properties in moderate-to-low risk zones also experience impacts; Zone X recorded 61 claims with an average payout of $68,049 and an average water depth of 3 inches, while unshaded Zone X recorded 78 claims averaging $11,180 with an average water depth of 2 inches. Shaded Zone X recorded 11 claims averaging $23,522 with an average water depth of 2 inches, and unknown zones recorded 4 claims averaging $24,451 with an average water depth of 8 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A due to the high frequency and severity of claims, as well as properties in various Zone X designations where localized flooding has repeatedly generated insurance payouts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
25% of Sebastian County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
356 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 3 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 2019, with 89 claims and $11.7M paid, the year of 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.
59 NOAA storm reports from Sebastian County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
21 federal disaster declarations since 1968, 4 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 Flooding | May 21, 2019 |
| 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 Winter Storm | Jan 26, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
142 since 1996: 106 flash floods and 36 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 19, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 14, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 3, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 24, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 14, 2023 | $75,000 |
| Flood | Feb 8, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jun 10, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 19, 2025. Severe thunderstorms developed over central Oklahoma along and ahead of a dry line during the afternoon of the 19th, as an upper level disturbance approached the Southern Plains. These thunderstorms moved northeast off the dry line and across portions of northwestern Arkansas during the evening hours. The atmosphere east of the dry line across northwestern Arkansas became very unstable during the afternoon and eve…
Flash Flood · Apr 4, 2025. Strong thunderstorms developed across portions of northwestern Arkansas during the early morning hours of the 4th, as lift associated with an approaching upper level disturbance increased north of a stationary front across northeastern Oklahoma and southern Arkansas. Additional rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms occurred across the area during the evening of the 4th, and then again during the early morning h…
Flash Flood · Mar 14, 2024. Severe thunderstorms developed across northwestern Arkansas on the 14th, as a cold front moved through the area. The combination of very strong instability and strong deep-layer wind shear resulted in some supercell thunderstorms developing. The strongest storms produced very large hail to grapefruit size and damaging wind gusts.
Flash Flood · Jun 3, 2024. A squall line moved through northwestern Arkansas during the early afternoon hours of the 3rd. Damaging wind gusts and localized flash flooding occurred as the storms moved through the area.
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 Sebastian 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.