Natural hazards · Patterson

Patterson, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Patterson comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Patterson?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Patterson to be higher than in 83% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes34%Inland flooding23%Tornadoes17%Drought12%Ice storms6%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Patterson faces

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

Earthquakes

34% of expected damage

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

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 56% of U.S. places

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

17% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

12% of expected damage

Recorded about 10 times a year in the area

Ice storms

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter 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 Patterson flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Woodruff County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Patterson

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PattersonDeclared for Woodruff County only

2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding

2 households applied for aid

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

7 households applied for aid $15K aid approved $30K to the City of Patterson for repairs

2000

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$8K to the City of Patterson for repairs

Woodruff County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and tornadoes.

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