64
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
0
Direct injuries
$3.7M
Property damage
Flash Flood in Polk County, Arkansas: 64 recorded events between 1996 and 2023. The strongest on record measured 0. That places the county #403 nationally and #17 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Flash Flood in Polk County, Arkansas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for flash flood in Polk County is the 2010s, when 25 of the county's 64 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Polk County archive, flash flood makes up 12.0% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #403 for this hazard and #17 within Arkansas, putting it in the 86.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for flash flood in Polk County with 10 recorded events, while Feb is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 2023 | MENA | 0 | $0 |
| Mar 17, 2023 | ROCKY | 0 | $0 |
| May 26, 2021 | MENA | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 1, 2020 | MENA | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 1, 2020 | CHERRY HILL | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 1, 2020 | CHERRY HILL | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 1, 2020 | NUNLEY | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 1, 2020 | INK | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 30, 2020 | BOARD CAMP | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 30, 2020 | MENA | 0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Polk County
- Hail 210
- Thunderstorm Wind 195
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Widespread flash flooding occurred in Polk County. U.S. 71 was closed from Mena to the Scott County line. Arkansas 8 and Arkansas 370 were flooded in the eastern part of the county. A landslide closed Arkansas 88 a few miles west of Mena. A number of county roads were impassable; 30 bridges were damaged and 3 were washed out. For the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 31st, Big Fork measured 7.55 inches of rain and Mena collected 7.07 inches. At the Mena airport, rainfall on the 30th measured 4.07 inches, followed by another 1.69 inches on the 31st. A fiber optic cable was knocked out of service. As a result, there was no landline phone service, cell phone service, or Internet service to most of the county for about 24 hours from the 30th into the 31st.
Excessive rainfall caused severe flash flooding in Polk County. During the afternoon and early evening hours, the Mena airport recorded 6.98 inches of rain in 7 hours. Of that amount, 3.89 inches fell in only two hours during the early evening. The storm total rainfall at the airport was 7.30 inches. More than 40 swift-water rescues became necessary. U.S. 71 was flooded south of Mena, and numerous other roads were barricaded. Some homes and businesses were sandbagged as a precaution, but water did enter a few structures. Numerous county roads and bridges were damaged, including pavement washed off roads, gravel washed away, and bridge approaches washed out. Other large rainfall totals in Polk County were 5.84 inches at Hatfield, 4.50 inches at Bogg Springs, and 3.88 inches at Cove.
Rainfall amounts included 6.72 inches at Bogg Springs and 6.48 inches at Mena. Numerous county roads flooded. A 70 foot-long bridge was washed out on Polk 7, a bridge was damaged on Polk 6, a 6-foot diameter culvert was washed away on Bunch Rd. in Wickes, and a section of Polk 257 was washed out. Water entered three businesses in Wickes and the Baptist camp flooded in Bogg Springs.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many flash flood events are on record in Polk County, Arkansas?
64 flash flood events are recorded in Polk County between 1996 and 2023, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest flash flood recorded in Polk County?
The strongest flash flood on record in Polk County measured 0.
Where does the flash flood data for Polk County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Flash Flood in Polk County, Arkansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/arkansas/polk-county/flash-flood/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.