Craighead County, Arkansas: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Craighead County, Arkansas has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 91.8 out of 100, higher than about 91% of US counties, with ice storms, earthquakes and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $90 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 26 federal disaster declarations that included Craighead County since 1968, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3636-AR (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 55 tornadoes touching Craighead County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 111,202 Buildings worth $22 billion Area 720 sq mi Risk rank in Arkansas 3 of 75 FIPS 05031
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice storm | Very High | 99.5 | $3.8 million | about 1.3 a year | 86 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | 97.8 | $36 million | about once every 92 years | — |
| Tornado | Relatively High | 97.7 | $18 million | about once every 1.8 years | 49 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 95.2 | $5.2 million | about 2 a year | 321 |
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 93.6 | $7.9 million | about 2.3 a year | 43 |
| Drought | Relatively High | 92.1 | $1.6 million | about 9 a year | 399 |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 91.0 | $356,322 | about 7.1 a year | 134 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 84.8 | $754,122 | about 57 a year | 194,177 strikes |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 78.8 | $15 million | about 2.5 a year | 69 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 75.0 | $912,267 | about 1.9 a year | 74 |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 70.1 | $4,973 | about once every 1.9 years | — |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 67.4 | $410,540 | about 3.4 a year | 128 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 56.8 | $118,946 | about once every 60 years | 6 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 43.8 | $26,802 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 26
Most common: Severe Storm 12, Flood 5, Tornado 4, Hurricane 2.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2 | Flood, Tornado |
| 1970s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1980s | 2 | Tornado, Severe Storm |
| 1990s | 2 | Flood, Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 9 | Severe Storm ×6, Severe Ice Storm ×2, Hurricane |
| 2010s | 3 | Severe Storm ×3 |
| 2020s | 6 | Tornado ×2, Winter Storm, Flood, Severe Storm, Hurricane |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Craighead County
- Severe Winter Storm (2026, EM-3636-AR): 75 Arkansas counties designated.
- Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding (2025, EM-3627-AR): 75 Arkansas counties designated.
- Hurricane Laura (2020, EM-3541-AR): 75 Arkansas counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Laura (2020), Tropical Storm Ike (2008), Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Arkansas also had 6 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 55
| Tornadoes touching the county | 55 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×2 |
| Peak month | April (15) |
| Deadliest | 15 May 1968, F4, 20.9 mi path, 35 killed, 364 injured |
| Longest path | 26 May 1973, F4, 54.8 mi path, 3 killed, 289 injured |
| Most recent | 16 May 2025, EF1, 7.1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 38 / 702 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 23 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 16 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Craighead County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craighead County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 91.8 | Ice storm |
| Poinsett County | 29 km | Relatively Low | 72.5 | Earthquake |
| Greene County | 33 km | Relatively Low | 80.2 | Earthquake |
| Lawrence County | 49 km | Relatively Low | 67.9 | Ice storm |
| Mississippi County | 53 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.2 | Drought |
| Jackson County | 58 km | Relatively Low | 67.8 | Ice storm |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Arkansas, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 66.0 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 52.9 |
| Community risk factor | 1.27 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $90 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Craighead County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Arkansas · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Craighead County
What natural disasters is Craighead County, Arkansas most at risk from?
Craighead County, Arkansas has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 91.8 out of 100, higher than about 91% of US counties, with ice storms, earthquakes and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $90 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Craighead County had?
OpenFEMA lists 26 federal disaster declarations that included Craighead County since 1968, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3636-AR (Severe Winter Storm, declared 24 January 2026). Another 6 Arkansas declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Craighead County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 55 tornadoes touching Craighead County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 15 May 1968, F4, 20.9 mi path, 35 killed, 364 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.