Natural hazards · Black Oak

Black Oak, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Black Oak comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Black Oak?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Black Oak to be higher than in 88% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes.

Earthquakes63%Inland flooding10%Tornadoes9%Drought8%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Black Oak faces

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

Earthquakes

63% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

10% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 34% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Drought

8% of expected damage

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Black Oak flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Black Oak.

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Black Oak 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

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Black Oak

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Black Oak itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Black Oak.

Brought FEMA money into Black OakDeclared for Craighead County only

2009

Severe Winter Storm

$26K to the Town of Black Oak 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. Black Oak 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 Black Oak’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Black Oak. 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.