Natural hazards · Southside

Southside, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Southside comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Southside?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Southside to be higher than in 72% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and inland flooding.

Tornadoes30%Inland flooding23%Earthquakes17%Ice storms10%Cold waves10%Heat waves5%Everything else6%

By hazard

What Southside faces

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

Tornadoes

30% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 55 years in the area

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 46% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Earthquakes

17% of expected damage

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

Ice storms

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Heat waves

5% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 14 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter 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 Southside flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Independence County.

Disasters that hit Southside

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SouthsideDeclared for Independence County only

2025

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

1 household applied for aid

Independence County has had 26 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. Southside covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Southside’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Southside. 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 Southside total about $1.9M 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.