Perry County, Arkansas

What hazards hit Perry County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 166 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 Perry County had?

NOAA records 19 tornadoes in Perry County from 1955 to 2025, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 0 injuries recorded in the county. 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 19 tornadoes whose track touched Perry County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 19, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

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 Perry County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the July 21, 2018 thunderstorm wind ($118,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

Trees and power lines were blown down in Houston, and countywide as well. In the city of Houston, a well built tractor shed was destroyed and a garage had its top blown off by powerful thunderstorm winds of 80 to 90 mph. Winds of 60 to 70 mph damaged trees and power lines across the county, and Houston appeared to be the area hardest hit. A horse was killed by a lightning strike in the city of Houston as well.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 776709)

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

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 Perry 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 Perry County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Perry County

FEMA's register lists 25 declarations that include Perry County: 16 major disasters, 9 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (9) 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 Perry County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 116 flood or flash flood records for Perry County from 1998 to 2025, on 108 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Perry County ranks 1907th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $1.1 million on 30 claims filed in Perry County; the most in one year was 14 in 2019. 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 Perry County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Perry County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $7.4 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 Perry County

1. Pulaski County 2,074
2. Saline County 976
3. Garland County 954
4. Faulkner County 951
5. Yell County 722
6. Conway County 669
7. Perry County 528

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 Perry CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Perry County's FEMA declarations (CSV)25 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis