Natural hazards · Mena

Mena, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mena comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 11 claims here since 1998. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mena?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mena to be higher than in 51% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding44%Tornadoes16%Ice storms8%Heat waves7%Hail7%Strong wind6%Everything else13%

By hazard

What Mena faces

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

Inland flooding

44% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

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

Ice storms

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Heat waves

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 15 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Strong wind

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Mena flood?

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

11paid claims since 1998

$90Kpaid to owners

2homes flooded more than once

19982026

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (1) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Polk County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

26storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Mena

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into MenaDeclared for Polk County only

2013

Severe Winter Storm

$189K to the City of Mena for repairs

2013

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$66K to the City of Mena for repairs

2009

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

$15K to the City of Mena for repairs

2009

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

757 households applied for aid $1.3M aid approved $2.6M to the City of Mena for repairs

2000

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$164K to the City of Mena for repairs

Polk County has had 20 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and ice storms.

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

Mena, AR natural hazards

How exposed is Mena?

What Mena faces

Inland flooding

Tornadoes

Ice storms

Heat waves

Hail

Strong wind

Lower here

Not a risk here

Does Mena flood?

Homes that flooded again and again

What’s been done with FEMA grants

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Severe Winter Storm

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

Severe Winter Ice Storm

How to read this page

Where to, neighbor?

Matches

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