States › Arkansas

Arkansas

The recorded hazard history of every county in Arkansas: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, and National Flood Insurance Program claims since 1978.

Arkansas has 48,966 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950 across 75 counties, led by damaging wind: 94.2 per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally.

NCEI attributes 668 deaths and 6,933 injuries to those events, with property damage estimated at $6.4B. By events per 100 square miles the leading counties are Pulaski, Sebastian and Crawford.

FEMA lists 89 disaster declarations touching the state since 1953, most recently Bunker Fire (15 Sep 2026). NFIP policyholders filed 10,260 flood claims since 1978, $221M paid; 8,993 residential policies are in force.

1,151events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

48,966events since 195094.2 per 100 sq mi (US 56.0)

89disaster declarations since 1953last 15 Sep 2026

10,260NFIP flood claims$221M paid

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. Storm records through 30 Jun 2026; declarations refreshed 29 Sep 2026; claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Compared with the United States

Measure	Arkansas	US
Recorded events since 1950	48,966	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	94.2	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	161.8	59.6
Deaths recorded by NCEI	668	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$6.4B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	3.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$27K	$43K
Residential flood policies in force	8,993	3,139,862

Hazard mix

Wind17,054

Hail12,515

Flood5,685

Winter4,674

Heat2,651

Tornado2,565

Drought1,837

Other678

Cold462

Lightning387

Tropical271

Wildfire178

Fog9

Hazard	Events	Share of US	Deaths
■ Wind	17,054	2.4%	47
■ Hail	12,515	2.9%	—
■ Flood	5,685	3.1%	92
■ Winter	4,674	1.6%	37
■ Heat	2,651	4.7%	40
■ Tornado	2,565	3.2%	413
■ Drought	1,837	2.1%	—
■ Other	678	1.5%	9
■ Cold	462	0.9%	5
■ Lightning	387	2.1%	22
■ Tropical	271	2.4%	1
■ Wildfire	178	1.9%	1
■ Fog	9	0.0%	1

Events by decade

Hail: 65Tornado: 181Wind: 131

Hail: 183Tornado: 180Wind: 264

Hail: 345Tornado: 299Wind: 524

Hail: 988Tornado: 245Wind: 1536

Hail: 3328Tornado: 356Flood: 282Wind: 3788Winter: 253Heat: 26Cold: 3Drought: 6Lightning: 72Other: 19

Hail: 3756Tornado: 575Flood: 1811Wind: 4410Winter: 1131Tropical: 143Heat: 98Cold: 219Drought: 146Wildfire: 7Lightning: 160Fog: 2Other: 146

Hail: 2364Tornado: 407Flood: 2291Wind: 4232Winter: 2085Tropical: 86Heat: 1213Cold: 95Drought: 1358Wildfire: 170Lightning: 136Fog: 6Other: 330

Hail: 1486Tornado: 322Flood: 1301Wind: 2169Winter: 1205Tropical: 42Heat: 1314Cold: 145Drought: 327Wildfire: 1Lightning: 19Fog: 1Other: 183

3771950s6271960s1,1681970s2,7691980s8,1331990s12,6042000s14,7732010s8,5152020s

Recorded events in Arkansas by decade and hazard group, including events recorded by forecast zone. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Counties by events per 100 square miles

County	Events	Last 12 mo	Per 100 sq mi	Per 10k residents	Dominant	Tornadoes	Hail	Declarations	NFIP claims	NRI risk
Pulaski County	2,074	21	273.5	52.1	Wind	103	688	33	1,720	Relatively High
Sebastian County	1,218	37	229.3	94.9	Wind	45	395	21	421	Relatively Moderate
Crawford County	952	20	159.9	157.7	Wind	43	312	26	71	Relatively Low
Benton County	1,346	52	158.8	45.8	Wind	69	469	25	338	Relatively Moderate
Faulkner County	951	9	146.9	76.0	Wind	62	266	28	321	Relatively Moderate
Garland County	954	9	140.8	95.1	Wind	41	305	21	271	Relatively Moderate
Franklin County	834	12	137.0	485.6	Wind	39	239	27	48	Relatively Low
Saline County	976	13	134.9	77.9	Wind	56	291	23	275	Relatively Low
Howard County	783	42	133.3	616.6	Wind	35	252	22	26	Relatively Low
Baxter County	716	6	129.3	169.9	Wind	22	209	21	115	Relatively Low
Craighead County	898	48	127.0	80.0	Wind	54	195	28	410	Relatively Moderate
Lonoke County	976	4	126.5	130.6	Wind	89	275	29	89	Relatively Low
Washington County	1,163	36	123.5	46.5	Hail	53	433	20	435	Relatively Moderate
Miller County	762	21	122.1	178.7	Wind	31	200	21	140	Relatively Low
Conway County	669	6	121.2	320.5	Wind	42	189	29	27	Relatively Low
Woodruff County	700	9	119.5	1,144.5	Flood	36	46	28	72	Very Low
Hot Spring County	728	7	118.4	219.6	Wind	40	194	20	20	Relatively Low
Sevier County	656	24	116.4	415.6	Wind	23	188	18	19	Relatively Low
Little River County	614	16	115.6	514.1	Wind	24	184	23	3	Relatively Low
Lafayette County	599	31	113.1	971.9	Wind	19	142	21	5	Very Low
Boone County	624	3	105.8	164.9	Wind	18	198	23	35	Relatively Low
White County	1,047	11	101.2	135.6	Wind	83	264	29	134	Relatively Moderate
Johnson County	666	9	100.8	257.7	Wind	39	177	26	6	Relatively Low
Hempstead County	730	27	100.4	370.7	Wind	36	198	26	9	Relatively Low
Greene County	578	46	100.1	124.8	Wind	39	113	28	235	Relatively Low
Jackson County	614	7	96.9	365.2	Wind	61	114	35	174	Relatively Low
Perry County	528	3	95.8	529.9	Wind	19	103	25	30	Very Low
Lawrence County	550	10	93.6	337.6	Wind	24	100	23	48	Relatively Low
Jefferson County	793	8	90.9	120.4	Wind	37	198	25	596	Relatively Moderate
Pike County	546	9	90.9	542.4	Wind	24	177	23	10	Very Low
Independence County	687	12	90.0	182.1	Wind	42	177	31	187	Relatively Low
Crittenden County	550	38	89.7	115.7	Wind	21	101	21	887	Relatively Moderate
Clay County	572	52	89.5	398.6	Wind	27	110	25	180	Relatively Low
Pope County	719	6	88.6	112.7	Wind	29	190	19	64	Relatively Low
Clark County	756	10	87.3	354.6	Wind	35	192	24	32	Very Low
Chicot County	555	16	87.1	553.9	Wind	45	137	18	153	Relatively Low
Cleburne County	482	8	87.0	192.7	Wind	29	123	23	37	Relatively Low
Sharp County	512	3	84.7	290.5	Wind	22	110	26	113	Relatively Low
Mississippi County	758	39	84.0	191.1	Wind	59	145	21	91	Relatively Moderate
Poinsett County	634	41	83.6	279.8	Wind	48	131	32	70	Relatively Low
Columbia County	637	24	83.2	281.0	Wind	36	167	22	14	Very Low
Izard County	482	2	83.1	346.5	Wind	25	136	31	71	Relatively Low
Nevada County	509	14	82.4	621.7	Wind	24	130	26	1	Very Low
Carroll County	514	8	81.6	180.8	Wind	18	155	21	7	Relatively Low
Ouachita County	597	6	81.5	267.6	Wind	23	127	29	91	Relatively Low
Van Buren County	577	5	81.3	367.7	Wind	35	167	25	18	Relatively Low
Marion County	479	7	80.3	282.1	Wind	23	126	28	9	Relatively Low
Polk County	678	5	79.1	350.3	Hail	37	211	24	23	Relatively Low
Prairie County	503	2	77.7	618.3	Wind	36	92	22	87	Very Low
Grant County	486	2	76.9	268.7	Wind	27	106	19	16	Very Low
Yell County	712	2	76.5	353.3	Wind	33	156	22	12	Relatively Low
Logan County	537	4	75.7	253.1	Wind	30	119	23	7	Relatively Low
St. Francis County	472	40	74.4	207.6	Heat	24	81	22	27	Relatively Low
Monroe County	449	3	73.9	671.9	Wind	22	90	27	170	Very Low
Montgomery County	575	9	73.7	667.8	Wind	15	151	24	57	Very Low
Madison County	612	9	73.4	360.8	Wind	28	202	30	7	Relatively Low
Randolph County	477	0	73.2	252.8	Wind	22	103	27	234	Relatively Low
Fulton County	433	6	70.1	356.5	Wind	22	88	28	61	Relatively Low
Cross County	427	37	69.3	256.0	Heat	28	55	24	61	Relatively Low
Searcy County	455	2	68.3	577.4	Wind	17	112	26	0	Very Low
Union County	694	25	66.8	181.0	Wind	45	172	21	137	Relatively Low
Stone County	400	2	66.0	320.5	Wind	24	83	30	8	Relatively Low
Dallas County	434	4	65.0	688.0	Wind	28	74	22	1	Very Low
Newton County	514	2	62.6	713.5	Wind	16	142	30	7	Very Low
Cleveland County	365	3	61.0	485.8	Wind	11	82	21	4	Very Low
Lincoln County	336	0	60.1	257.7	Wind	21	74	24	29	Very Low
Calhoun County	376	3	59.8	793.1	Wind	20	76	23	9	Very Low
Ashley County	549	10	59.3	294.0	Wind	45	132	15	61	Relatively Low
Arkansas County	587	5	59.2	351.0	Wind	49	134	20	89	Relatively Low
Phillips County	409	40	59.2	257.1	Heat	28	35	18	456	Relatively Low
Lee County	351	37	58.5	407.2	Heat	13	34	18	59	Very Low
Drew County	480	5	57.9	280.5	Wind	21	92	20	40	Very Low
Bradley County	365	1	56.2	350.7	Wind	21	89	26	59	Very Low
Scott County	461	8	51.6	469.4	Wind	9	117	23	10	Very Low
Desha County	359	4	48.4	323.7	Wind	26	59	21	206	Very Low

Events are county-recorded plus zone-recorded events whose zone is named for the county. NRI risk is FEMA's National Risk Index overall rating (December 2025).

Counties by flood claims per 100 policies in force

County	Claims, last 10 years	Policies in force	Claims per 100 policies	Claims since 1978	Paid
Clay County	52	112	46.4	180	$4.1M
Sebastian County	133	290	45.9	421	$19M
Jefferson County	113	273	41.4	596	$14M
Benton County	161	439	36.7	338	$9.2M
Washington County	184	525	35.0	435	$14M
Saline County	69	237	29.1	275	$7.7M
Faulkner County	118	420	28.1	321	$7.7M
Desha County	50	200	25.0	206	$3.6M
Miller County	35	148	23.6	140	$2.7M
Pulaski County	340	1,526	22.3	1,720	$30M
Mississippi County	22	106	20.8	91	$2.2M
Jackson County	27	136	19.9	174	$3.1M
Phillips County	24	123	19.5	456	$3.8M
Crawford County	19	105	18.1	71	$1.6M
Monroe County	18	104	17.3	170	$4.4M

Counties with at least 100 residential policies in force. Claims by year of loss in the ten years to 2026, divided by residential policies in force as of 3 Aug 2026; a rough ratio, since policies in force today differ from those in force when the losses occurred.

Federal disaster declarations by year

195319902026

Declarations touching Arkansas by year declared, 1953 to 2026; each disaster number counted once.

Incident type	Declarations
Severe Storm	33
Flood	21
Tornado	18
Severe Ice Storm	6
Hurricane	3
Fire	2
Winter Storm	2
Biological	2
Snowstorm	1
Drought	1

Most recent declarations (each disaster number once, with the number of counties designated):

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
15 Sep 2026	FM-5676	Fire management assistance	Fire	Bunker Fire	2
21 Aug 2026	FM-5673	Fire management assistance	Fire	Pine Tree Road Fire	1
24 Jan 2026	EM-3636	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	75
21 May 2025	DR-4873	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	41
8 May 2025	DR-4865	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	9
5 Apr 2025	EM-3627	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	75
30 May 2024	DR-4788	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	11
14 Nov 2023	DR-4748	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	4
4 Apr 2023	DR-4700	Major disaster	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	13
2 Apr 2023	DR-4698	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	3
23 Dec 2021	DR-4633	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	5
27 Aug 2020	EM-3541	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Laura	75
10 Jul 2020	DR-4556	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms And Straight-Line Winds	12
8 May 2020	DR-4544	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-Line Winds	1
3 Apr 2020	DR-4518	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	75

Flood insurance claims by year

197820022026

NFIP claims in Arkansas by year of loss, 1978 to 2026.

10,260 claims, 8,223 paid, $221M in total; 1,139 repetitive-loss and 197 severe repetitive-loss properties. ZIP codes in Arkansas with flood claims (218).

Year by year

Each year's events, declarations and claims: 2026 · 2025 · 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020 · 2019 · 2018 · 2017 · 2016 · 2015 · 2014 · 2013 · 2012 · 2011 · 2010 · 2009 · 2008 · 2007 · 2006 · 2005 · 2004 · 2003 · 2002 · 2001 · 2000 · 1999 · 1998 · 1997 · and earlier years back to 1950

Questions and answers

Which Arkansas counties have the most recorded tornadoes?

Pulaski (103), Lonoke (89) and White (83), by NCEI count since 1950. Larger counties record more events; the state table also ranks by events per 100 square miles.

Which Arkansas counties have the most flood insurance claims?

Pulaski (1,720), Crittenden (887) and Jefferson (596) since 1978, in the OpenFEMA NFIP claims file.

How many federal disaster declarations has Arkansas had?

89 declarations since 1953 (major disaster, emergency and fire management assistance declarations combined), 3 of them in 2026 so far.

How does Arkansas compare with the national rate?

94.2 recorded events per 100 square miles against 56.0 nationally; 3.4 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 8.1.

Provenance

NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 refreshed 29 Sep 2026; OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026); FEMA National Risk Index December 2025; US Census Bureau 2021 population and area. Built 30 Sep 2026. Methodology.