Natural hazards · Bay

Bay, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bay comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 7 claims here since 2001. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Bay?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bay to be higher than in 80% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and tornadoes.

Earthquakes44%Tornadoes17%Inland flooding16%Cold waves8%Heat waves5%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Bay faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Earthquakes

44% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Inland flooding

16% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 49% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 64% of U.S. places

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Bay flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Bay, from FEMA’s records.

7paid claims since 2001

$57Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20012026

Biggest named events

Central U.S. April Flooding: 1 claim, $6K

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Bay isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Craighead County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

11storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Bay

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Bay itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the City of Bay.

Brought FEMA money into BayDeclared for Craighead County only

2025

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

21 households applied for aid $10K aid approved

2021

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

3 households applied for aid

2017

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

$5K to the City of Bay for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm

$88K to the City of Bay for repairs

2002

Severe Ice Storm

$7K to the City of Bay for repairs

Craighead County has had 22 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and tornadoes.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Bay is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bay’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Bay. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); 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. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.