Is Desha County, AR in a flood zone?
FEMA's National Risk Index puts Desha County's flood hazard at the 33.4th percentile nationally — among the lowest flood hazard in the country — driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 1.3 times a year. County-wide, not parcel-specific: FEMA's real flood-zone map is queried live, never shipped as a download.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Desha County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Desha County's mapped high-risk flood zone (the Special Flood Hazard Area, or SFHA) are legally required to carry an NFIP flood policy. In practice, 18.6% of them do — 166 active policies against 894 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Across all residential structures in Desha County, not just the ones FEMA mandates, 4.2% carry an NFIP policy — most flood damage nationally happens outside the mapped high-risk zone, so that broader number matters too.
Where Desha County ranks
Desha County sits at rank 2154 of 3144 counties on FEMA's flood hazard scale (1 is worst) and rank 2385 of 3144 by population (1 is biggest). Desha County, Arkansas is home to about 10,321 people across 741.227 square miles of land.
Your street may differ from Desha County's average
200 of Desha County's 4,762 residential structures carry flood coverage of some kind, per FEMA's latest count — useful context, not a substitute for checking one parcel.
More on how this number was built
The methodology guide shows exactly which FEMA and Census tables feed Desha County's numbers. The guide to what the Special Flood Hazard Area actually means explains why the mandatory-insurance rule exists and who it applies to.