Hempstead County, Arkansas

What hazards hit Hempstead County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 248 since 1955. The rank column places the county among Arkansas's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Hempstead County had?

NOAA records 36 tornadoes in Hempstead County from 1954 to 2025, the strongest rated F4, with 5 deaths and 15 injuries recorded in the county. That is 25th of 75 Arkansas counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 33 tornadoes whose track touched Hempstead County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 36: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 8 people, 5 of them in Hempstead County.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Arkansas.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Hempstead County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the April 5, 2025 tornado ($400,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

An EF-2 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 115 mph touched down just north of Interstate 30 along Hempstead 2, and remained on the ground tracking east-northeast just north of I-30 to near Hope. The tornado was strongest on Hempstead 2 where widespread major tree damage yielded a peak wind speed of 115 mph. Tree damage remained significant through the Highway 15 and Hempstead 2 intersection and the maximum width was estimated to have been achieved near this latter intersection. After this intersection, the tornado began gradually weakening and decreasing in size, with the last trace of contact with the ground being minor tree damage on North Hazel Street on the north side of Hope. Along the tornado's path, the majority of the damage was to hardwood and softwood trees, although some structures were damaged. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1256658)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Hempstead County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

Records by month in Hempstead County. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Hempstead County

FEMA's register lists 26 declarations that include Hempstead County: 19 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (12) and flood (5).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Hempstead County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 70 flood or flash flood records for Hempstead County from 1996 to 2026, on 40 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Hempstead County ranks 2400th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $618,000 on 9 claims filed in Hempstead County; the most in one year was 4 in 2015. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Hempstead County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Hempstead County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $11.7 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Hempstead County

1. Howard County 783
2. Miller County 762
3. Hempstead County 730
4. Little River County 614
5. Lafayette County 599
6. Pike County 546
7. Nevada County 509

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in ArkansasEvery Arkansas tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in ArkansasThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Arkansas recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Hempstead CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Hempstead County's FEMA declarations (CSV)26 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis