Levee Damage Puts NE Arkansas in High-Risk Flood Zone

Federal officials say damage to levees in Missouri has put much of northeast Arkansas in a federally defined high-risk flood zone.

St. Francis Levee District CEO Rob Rash estimates that 125,000 households in the region will now have to buy flood insurance. People living along the Mississippi River and as far inland and Jonesboro could be affected.

The designation comes from a nationwide effort by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine which areas are at high risk of flooding. Congress required the evaluation following Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast in 2005.

FEMA has since re-evaluated areas that fall under a 100-year flood risk – meaning there is a 1 percent chance each year of a catastrophic flood.

Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette,
http://www.arkansasonline.com