Natural hazards · Carlisle

Carlisle, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Carlisle comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Carlisle?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Carlisle to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes36%Inland flooding27%Tornadoes14%Everything else23%

By hazard

What Carlisle faces

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

Earthquakes

36% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 86% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 58% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Carlisle flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Lonoke County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

8storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Carlisle

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CarlisleDeclared for Lonoke County only

2023

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

$56K to the City of Carlisle for repairs

2023

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

2 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding

10 households applied for aid $18K aid approved

2008

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

40 households applied for aid $75K aid approved $88K to the City of Carlisle for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid

2000

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$95K to the City of Carlisle for repairs

Lonoke County has had 25 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. Carlisle 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 Carlisle’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Carlisle. 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.