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Natural hazards · Pocahontas

Pocahontas, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Pocahontas comes from earthquakes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 88 claims here since 1978. 11 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

How exposed is Pocahontas?

82
Very high
vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Pocahontas to be higher than in 82% of U.S. communities, mostly from earthquakes and inland flooding.

Earthquakes40%Inland flooding20%Cold waves15%Tornadoes13%Heat waves6%Everything else6%
By hazard

What Pocahontas faces

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

Earthquakes

40% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Inland flooding

20% of expected damage
Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Cold waves

15% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places
Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Heat waves

6% of expected damage
Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places
Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireLandslidesStrong 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 Pocahontas flood?

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

88paid claims since 1978
$3.8Mpaid to owners
15homes flooded more than once
19782026

Biggest named events

  • Late spring severe storms: 52 claims, $3.2M
  • Mid-spring storms: 17 claims, $413K
  • March storm: 2 claims, $33K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (4) ■ flooded 2+ times

of homes in flood zones
are insured
of all homes
are insured
No community discount. Pocahontas isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Randolph County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built
Disasters that hit Pocahontas

11 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into PocahontasDeclared for Randolph County only
2025

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

16 households applied for aid $50K aid approved
2025

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

27 households applied for aid $247K aid approved
2024

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

22 households applied for aid $26K aid approved $30K to the City of Pocahontas for repairs
2017

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

182 households applied for aid $785K aid approved $260K to the City of Pocahontas for repairs
2014

Severe Storms,tornadoes, and Flooding

62 households applied for aid $73K aid approved $76K to the City of Pocahontas for repairs
2011

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Associated Flooding

285 households applied for aid $1.3M aid approved $287K to the City of Pocahontas for repairs
2009

Severe Winter Storm

$381K to the City of Pocahontas for repairs
2008

Tropical Storm Ike

$25K to the City of Pocahontas for repairs
2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

103 households applied for aid $320K aid approved $93K to the City of Pocahontas for repairs
2006

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

248 households applied for aid $62K aid approved $46K to the City of Pocahontas for repairs
2002

Severe Ice Storm

$31K to the City of Pocahontas for repairs
Randolph County has had 22 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. Pocahontas covers 1 census tract, combined by population.
Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Pocahontas’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Pocahontas. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Pocahontas total about $4.9M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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