Natural hazards · Mountain Home

Mountain Home, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Mountain Home comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 21 claims here since 1985. 5 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Mountain Home?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Mountain Home to be higher than in 50% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding24%Tornadoes19%Earthquakes18%Ice storms16%Strong wind8%Cold waves7%Everything else8%

By hazard

What Mountain Home faces

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

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

19% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Earthquakes

18% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 81% of U.S. places

Ice storms

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Cold waves

7% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% 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 Mountain Home flood?

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

21paid claims since 1985

$122Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19852026

Biggest named events

Late spring severe storms: 1 claim, $3K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Baxter County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

4storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Mountain Home

5 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into Mountain HomeDeclared for Baxter County only

2024

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

332 households applied for aid $615K aid approved $111K to the City of Mountain Home for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm

$934K to the City of Mountain Home for repairs

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

53 households applied for aid $98K aid approved

2002

Severe Ice Storm

$9K to the City of Mountain Home for repairs

2000

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$68K to the City of Mountain Home for repairs

Baxter County has had 17 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

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