Natural hazards · Melbourne

Melbourne, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Melbourne comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 8 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Melbourne?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Melbourne to be higher than in 87% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and ice storms.

Inland flooding32%Ice storms25%Earthquakes13%Tornadoes10%Cold waves8%Strong wind6%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Melbourne faces

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

Inland flooding

32% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 80% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Ice storms

25% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 83% of U.S. places

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 8 years in the area

Cold waves

8% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 43% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Melbourne flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Izard County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

20storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Melbourne

8 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MelbourneDeclared for Izard County only

2025

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

19 households applied for aid $197K aid approved

2015

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

$7K to the City of Melbourne for repairs

2014

Severe Storms,tornadoes, and Flooding

$11K to the City of Melbourne for repairs

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding

$3K to the City of Melbourne for repairs

2009

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$25K to the City of Melbourne for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm

$118K to the City of Melbourne for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

51 households applied for aid $190K aid approved $7K to the City of Melbourne for repairs

2002

Severe Ice Storm

$4K to the City of Melbourne for repairs

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