Natural hazards · Hughes

Hughes, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Hughes comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 2001. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Hughes?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Hughes to be higher than in 77% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and earthquakes.

Tornadoes30%Earthquakes22%Inland flooding20%Drought12%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Hughes faces

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

Tornadoes

30% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Earthquakes

22% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

20% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Drought

12% of expected damage

Recorded about 9 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 Hughes flood?

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

2paid claims since 2001

$8Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20012026

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: St. Francis County.

Disasters that hit Hughes

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into HughesDeclared for St. Francis County only

2025

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

35 households applied for aid $221K aid approved

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding

6 households applied for aid $32K aid approved $1K to the City of Hughes for repairs

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

5 households applied for aid $6K aid approved $27K to the City of Hughes for repairs

2000

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$24K to the City of Hughes for repairs

St. Francis County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

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. Hughes 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 Hughes’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Hughes. 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.

Hughes, AR natural hazards

How exposed is Hughes?

What Hughes faces

Tornadoes

Earthquakes

Inland flooding

Drought

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Hughes flood?

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

Severe Winter Ice Storm

How to read this page

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