Natural hazards · Waldo

Waldo, AR natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Waldo comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Waldo?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Waldo to be higher than in 57% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and ice storms.

Inland flooding24%Ice storms19%Tornadoes16%Heat waves12%Strong wind10%Hail8%Everything else11%

By hazard

What Waldo faces

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

Inland flooding

24% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 27% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Ice storms

19% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 65% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Heat waves

12% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 19 times a year in the area

Strong wind

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Waldo flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Columbia County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Waldo

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WaldoDeclared for Columbia County only

2003

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

361 households applied for aid $556K aid approved

2000

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$122K to the City of Waldo for repairs

Columbia County has had 18 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. Waldo 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 Waldo’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Waldo. 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.