113 flood insurance claims·$3.6M 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 Sharp 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.
Sharp County, Arkansas is dominated by flash flooding, accounting for 62 events and two deaths over the last 30 years, alongside 26 general flood events, three tropical storm events, and two tropical depression events.
Recent history underscores this hazard. In January 2025, a slowly lifting warm front dropped heavy rainfall across northern Arkansas, culminating in flash flooding on January 30th after days of accumulating rain. A subsequent multiday severe weather event produced widespread flash flooding and river flooding on April 4 and April 5, 2025, driven by rainfall totals ranging from half a foot to over one foot in many locations alongside tornadoes, damaging winds, and large hail.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims extending across multiple zones. Zone A leads with 77 claims averaging $42,956 payouts and an average recorded water depth of 16 inches. Zone X accounts for 21 claims with average payouts of $29,542 and an average water depth of 17 inches. Zone X_UNSHADED recorded six claims with an average payout of $29,650 and an average water depth of 46 inches, while Zone UNKNOWN includes nine claims averaging $17,656 with an average water depth of 10 inches. Properties in mapped high-risk areas like Zone A and properties located in Zone X zones experiencing significant recorded water depths should pay the closest attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
7% of Sharp County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
83 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 16 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 2008, with 53 claims and $1.4M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding and Tropical Storm Ike.
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.
38 NOAA storm reports from Sharp County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Arkansas flood stories →
26 federal disaster declarations since 1969, 5 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 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 24, 2024 |
| Hurricane Laura | Aug 26, 2020 |
| Severe Storms,tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 27, 2014 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 5, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Associated Flooding | Apr 14, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
93 since 1996: 62 flash floods and 26 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jan 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 5, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Nov 4, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Mar 24, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jan 30, 2025. A slowly lifting warm front across Arkansas led to a significant rain event across central and northern Arkansas during a period of several days. Rainfall totals mounted across the northern half of the state and by January 30th locations across central and northern Arkansas experienced Flash Flooding after receiving additional rainfall.
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2025. An outflow boundary associated with an approaching cold front from Missouri would lead to the development of a few severe storms across northern and central Arkansas which would lead to several instances of wind damage and flash flooding.
Flash Flood · May 24, 2025. Heavy rains brought isolated flash flooding to portions of Arkansas.
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.
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 Sharp 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.