Natural hazards · Salem

Salem, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Salem comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Salem?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Salem to be higher than in 66% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding46%Tornadoes16%Earthquakes13%Heat waves9%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Salem faces

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

Inland flooding

46% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 76 years in the area

Earthquakes

13% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Salem flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Saline County.

Disasters that hit Salem

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Saline County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Salem itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into SalemDeclared for Saline County only

Saline County has had 19 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and hurricanes.

Around Salem

Salem and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Salemmostly inland floodingHigh

Bentonmostly inland floodingHigh

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