Natural hazards · Ola

Ola, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Ola comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 2 claims here since 1984. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Ola?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

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

Inland flooding61%Tornadoes17%Everything else22%

By hazard

What Ola faces

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

Inland flooding

61% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% 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 wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Ola flood?

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

2paid claims since 1984

$8Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19842026

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. Ola isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Yell County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

10storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Ola

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into OlaDeclared for Yell County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $776 aid approved

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