Natural hazards · St. Joe

St. Joe, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in St. Joe comes from ice storms, and overall the risk is very 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 St. Joe?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in St. Joe to be higher than in 92% of U.S. communities, mostly from ice storms and inland flooding.

Ice storms38%Inland flooding30%Tornadoes13%Cold waves6%Everything else13%

By hazard

What St. Joe faces

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

Ice storms

38% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 92% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 47% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 St. Joe flood?

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

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit St. Joe

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in St. Joe itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of St. Joe.

Brought FEMA money into St. JoeDeclared for Searcy County only

2008

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid $28K aid approved

Searcy County has had 21 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. St. Joe 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 St. Joe’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of St. Joe. 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.