244 flood insurance claims·$12.4M 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 Ripley County, Missouri. 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.
River flooding and flash flooding from storms dominate Ripley County, with the NOAA Storm Events Database recording 45 floods and 39 flash floods over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including torrential rainfall rates that produced flooding in Naylor on July 27, 2025, and a severe weather outbreak that caused flooding on May 26, 2024. Additional heavy rainfall along a slow-moving frontal boundary affected the region from November 4 through November 6, 2024, impacting water levels on the Current and St. Francis rivers.
Federal flood insurance claims data shows the greatest impact occurs in designated high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for 204 claims with an average payout of $57,039 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Properties in Zone X recorded an average payout of $125,952 and an average water depth of 6 inches across 7 claims, while Zone X Unshaded recorded an average payout of $99,286 with an average depth of 7 inches across 8 claims. Zone Unknown recorded 25 claims with an average payout of $11,087 and an average depth of 5 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and near river systems, as well as areas where historical claims indicate recurring water accumulation.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Ripley County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
212 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 9 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 2017, with 66 claims and $8.8M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds 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.
36 NOAA storm reports from Ripley County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Missouri flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Mar 30, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Wildfires | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 3, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds And Flooding | Apr 28, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Dec 22, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 19, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
84 since 1996: 39 flash floods and 45 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Jul 27, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 26, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 26, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Nov 6, 2024 | $100,000 |
| Flood | Mar 25, 2023 | $15,000 |
| Flood | Mar 4, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 3, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 4, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Jul 27, 2025. On the 27th, the Quad State was in the middle of an extended heat wave, with high dew points contributing to a very moist environment. As a band of afternoon thunderstorms took shape in southern portions of the Ozarks, drifting southward into Arkansas, torrential rainfall rates produced flooding in Naylor.
Flood · May 26, 2024. The second major severe weather outbreak for the month occurred on the 26th for the Quad State region. On the synoptic scale, a shortwave trough centered in the middle of the country with a 60 kt mid-level jet moved across northern Arkansas. A weak surface low was moving into SE Missouri during the morning with a secondary low located further northwest. A warm frontal boundary was draped across our area. A bowing…
Flash Flood · May 26, 2024. The second major severe weather outbreak for the month occurred on the 26th for the Quad State region. On the synoptic scale, a shortwave trough centered in the middle of the country with a 60 kt mid-level jet moved across northern Arkansas. A weak surface low was moving into SE Missouri during the morning with a secondary low located further northwest. A warm frontal boundary was draped across our area. A bowing…
Flood · Nov 6, 2024. Multiple rounds of training heavy rain along a slow moving frontal boundary affected Southern and Eastern Missouri from the 4th through the 6th of November. Western fringes of the WFO Paducah county warning area in Carter County received 4-6 inches of rainfall in this span. Many locations further west and north from West Plains to Hillsboro in Missouri reached 7 to 10 inches of rainfall. Street flooding was report…
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 Ripley 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.