Pike County, Arkansas

What hazards hit Pike County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 179 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 Pike County had?

NOAA records 24 tornadoes in Pike County from 1957 to 2023, the strongest rated EF2, with 0 deaths and 7 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 24 tornadoes whose track touched Pike County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 24, 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 Pike County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 2, 2023 tornado (5 injuries).

This tornado started just north of Kirby, completely destroying two chicken houses on the west side of Arkansas Highway 27. The tornado moved north-northeast along highway 27, causing moderate roof damage to a home, and snapping several large trees at their trunks. The tornado continued to move north-northeast, paralleling Ebenezer Road where it did the most significant damage. Several tree lines along the road had snapped trunks. A mobile home on Ebenezer Road, which had securing tie-down straps, was completely lofted, rolled, and tossed approximately 100 feet into a tree line, completely destroying it. There were 4 occupants, two only had minor injuries. Farther east on Ebenezer road, the tornado damaged a few more mobile homes. The first one was shifted off of it's supporting blocks, and some roof and siding damage was observed. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1088137)

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

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

Federal disaster declarations for Pike County

FEMA's register lists 23 declarations that include Pike County: 17 major disasters, 6 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (10) 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 Pike County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 40 flood or flash flood records for Pike County from 1996 to 2025, on 32 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Pike County ranks 2358th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $377,000 on 10 claims filed in Pike County; the most in one year was 4 in 2010. 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 Pike County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Pike County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $6.6 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 Pike County

1. Howard County 783
2. Clark County 756
3. Hempstead County 730
4. Polk County 703
5. Montgomery County 586
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 Pike CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Pike County's FEMA declarations (CSV)23 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis