Ouachita County, AR flood risk explained
Flood hazard in Ouachita County sits at the 53.1th national percentile, below the national norm for flood hazard; driven by inland rivers and flash flooding rather than the coast — FEMA's model puts a flood event here at about 4.1 times a year. This describes the county, not any one street — FEMA only publishes exact parcel zones through a live map service.
Mandatory flood insurance compliance in Ouachita County
Homes with a federally backed mortgage inside Ouachita 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, 10.9% of them do — 43 active policies against 394 structures FEMA counts in that zone, leaving a real compliance gap. Looking beyond the mandated zone, 0.6% of all residential structures in Ouachita County carry flood coverage voluntarily or otherwise — relevant because most NFIP claims nationally come from outside the mapped SFHA.
Where Ouachita County ranks
Among the 3144 US counties FEMA scores for flood hazard, Ouachita County ranks 1537 — 1 being the highest hazard nationally — and 1739 by population among all 3144 counties covered here, where 1 is the largest. Ouachita County, Arkansas covers 732.721 square miles and counts roughly 21,684 residents.
Checking a specific address in Ouachita County
FEMA counts 8,730 residential structures in Ouachita County overall, 50 of them carrying some form of NFIP coverage — but a lender or insurer cares about one parcel, not that county total.
Where Ouachita County's figures come from
Every figure on this page traces to a named FEMA dataset, documented in the methodology guide. If you're unsure why any of this insurance requirement exists at all, the SFHA explainer covers it from first principles.