Phillips County Penal Farm Historic District · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Poplar Grove
Poplar Grove isn’t graded for hazard risk: Poplar Grove has 255 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Poplar Grove faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Earthquakes
Tornadoes
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Poplar Grove flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Poplar Grove. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Poplar Grove isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Phillips County.4 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Poplar Grove
Disasters that paid out in Poplar Grove itself (aid to households or repair grants to Poplar Grove), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2011Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding24 households applied for aid$17K aid approved
- 2008Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes15 households applied for aid$673 aid approved
- 2008Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding8 households applied for aid$9K aid approved
- 2003Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding65 households applied for aid$62K aid approved
Phillips County has had 15 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Old photos of Poplar Grove after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Poplar Grove archive →Get ready for what Poplar Grove faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Drop, cover and hold on.
- Strap tall furniture and the water heater to the wall.
- Know how to shut off the gas.
- Pick your spot now: the lowest floor, an inside room, no windows.
- A watch means be ready; a warning means take cover now.
- Keep shoes and a flashlight by the bed.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Poplar Grove
Is Poplar Grove in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Phillips County, 10% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 1.8% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Poplar Grove?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Poplar Grove’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Poplar Grove?
By FEMA money that reached Poplar Grove, Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding (2003): 65 households applied for aid, $62K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Poplar Grove.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Poplar Grove’s residents lived in the 2020 census; OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.