Entry Category: Natural Disasters

1907 Flood

Street view showing food damaged cars and buildings

1961 Flood

Bridge over creek covered in flood debris

1961 Flood

University campus in foreground as seen from above

2023 Tornado

Aerial view of white tents set up in rows on oval racetrack

African American Flood Refugees

plates with apples under a flag and a sign saying "Berryville

Apple Display

Arkansas City Flood

White men and women soldiers unload boxes from truck near American Red Cross volunteers and crowd

Arkansas National Guard Assisting Hurricane Katrina Evacuees

Flooded river valley seen from elevated rocky outcropping

Arkansas River 2019 Flood

Multistory building with extensive damage

Arlington Hotel

Metal buildings partially submerged by flood waters

Bald Knob Flood

part of a bridge extending into a river with flooded city in background

Baring Cross Bridge; 1927

Flooded street with small house and telephone poles

Batesville 1915 Flood

Wooden church building with two front doors missing roof

Bethesda Tornado

Small home with steeply angled roof surrounded by water

Biggers Flood

Buildings in state of near collapse with fallen trees in foreground

Blevins Tornado, 1921

Damaged buildings and houses as seen from above

Desha County Flooding

Two white men wearing hats walking on flooded streets

Dixie 1927 Flood

People in boats floating past flooded buildings

Earle Flood

Rows and rows of mobile homes in fields as seen from above

FEMA Trailers

Flood of 1927

aka: Great Flood of 1927
aka: Mississippi River Flood of 1927
aka: 1927 Flood

The Flood of 1927 was the most destructive and costly flood in Arkansas history and one of the worst in the history of the nation. It afflicted Arkansas with a greater amount of devastation, both human and monetary, than the other affected states in the Mississippi River Valley. It had social and political ramifications which changed the way Arkansas, as well as the nation, viewed relief from natural disasters and the responsibility of government in aiding the victims, echoing the Hurricane Katrina disaster in the present day. In largely agrarian Arkansas, the Flood of 1927 covered about 6,600 square miles, with thirty-six out of seventy-five Arkansas counties under water up to thirty feet deep in places. In Arkansas, more people …

Flood of 1937

A cold, rainy January in 1937 set the stage for one of the worst floods—if not the worst—in Arkansas. Corrective action undertaken during the preceding ten years kept Mississippi River levees along Arkansas’s border from breaking, however, thereby preventing a repeat of the Flood of 1927. Nevertheless, eleven Arkansas waterways overflowed, inundating or otherwise affecting seventeen adjacent counties. Eleven additional states flooded, from West Virginia to Louisiana, affecting 1.5 million people in 196 counties and submerging 8,141,182 acres (12,721 square miles) along the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys. This natural calamity shattered all previous disaster records, excluding World War I, according to the American Red Cross (ARC). Flood conditions developed over January and February 1937 from abnormal barometric pressure over …

Flood of 1978

On September 13, 1978, a large rainstorm subjected much of central Arkansas to record-setting amounts of rainfall. Due to the resulting flash floods, ten people drowned in Little Rock (Pulaski County) and three more died in Benton (Saline County). In addition to local authorities, Governor David Pryor activated the Benton and Little Rock National Guard units to assist in search and rescue efforts. The flood affected Arkansans in at least fifty-seven counties and caused tens of millions of dollars in damage. The storm began moving from west to east beginning on September 13. The National Weather Service reported that 8.10 inches of rain fell on September 13 alone, a record second only to the 8.81 inches that fell on April …

Flood of 2019

The flood along the Arkansas River that occurred in the spring of 2019 broke a number of high-water records and proved to be one of the costliest natural disasters in the state’s history. In addition, the flood cast light upon the state’s aging levee and transportation infrastructure. Several climatological factors combined to produce the flood. First, a mild winter and warmer than usual spring (likely exacerbated by global warming) led to early snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains, the source of the Arkansas River. During the spring months, especially in May, the Great Plains were hit by repeated storms that brought record numbers of tornadoes and record rainfall; high pressure over the southeastern states stalled this weather in the Midwest. For …

Large number of children milling about outside wooden structure

Flooding in Cotton Plant

Floods

Floods are one of the most commonly occurring natural hazards in the United States. Their effects can be local, impacting a neighborhood or community, or can occur in large scale, affecting entire river basins and several states. About 3,800 towns and cities in the United Sates with populations of more than 2,500 lie on floodplains. The National Weather Service has documented some ninety-two flood deaths per year in the United States since 1903. This figure does not include flood-related deaths associated with Hurricane Katrina (2005). Since 1997, more than half (about fifty-seven percent) of all flood deaths have been vehicle-related fatalities. Throughout its history, Arkansas has been drastically affected by floods, with the most notable being in 1927 and 1937. …