BlockBefore

Lavaca, Arkansas

25 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1997. It stands in Township 1. It lies in ZIP code area 72941. The Survey maps it on the Lavaca quadrangle. 2,450 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 423 feet above sea level.

Lavaca within Sebastian County

Population over time

2 figures

Lavaca grew from 2,289 to 2,450 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20102,289
20202,450+161 (+7%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 25 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

38 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 38 fires within 5 miles of Lavaca between 1997 and 2017, burning about 481 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 6 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning15
Arson/incendiarism6
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Equipment and vehicle use4
Smoking4
Natural2
Recreation and ceremony1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 1998Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
9 September 1998Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
9 September 1998Debris and open burning50 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
6 September 2006Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
5 September 1998Arson/incendiarism30 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
20 September 2004Debris and open burning8.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
12 September 2009Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
10 September 1998Equipment and vehicle use3.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Sebastian County

Storms near this place

53 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lavaca in 53 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 20 thunderstorm wind, 15 hail, 11 flash flood, 5 flood. The reports record 1 death and 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2019Flash FloodLavaca1 killed, $400,000Portions of Highways 96 and 255 were closed near Lavaca. Portions of Highway 22 were closed near Fort Chaffee. Reportedly, 38 homes were flood-damaged in Fort Smith and seven were flood-damaged in Barling. A woman delivering newspapers drove into flood water across Kinkead Avenue on the east side of Fort Smith, and was washed off the road where she drowned.
August 2014LightningLavaca1 hurtA man was struck and injured by lightning while standing on his porch, moving plants indoors out of the weather. The lightning struck a neighbor's tree about 30 yards from his porch. The victim was knocked unconscious and was taken to a nearby hospital.
August 2019Flash FloodLavaca$150,000Emergency management reported nineteen homes flooded in Lavaca.
April 2022HailLavaca$125,000Tennis ball size hail damaged homes, businesses, and vehicles.
May 2015Flash FloodLavaca$100,000An apartment complex was evacuated due to high water from an overflowing creek. Flood water was several inches deep in some first-story apartments.
March 2000HailLavaca$100,000Softball size hail fell in Lavaca likely damaging cars, roofs and windows.
August 2009HailLavaca$25,000no account filed
October 2017Thunderstorm WindLavaca$15,000Strong thunderstorm wind damaged the roof and exterior walls of a building on Military Road. The strong wind also uprooted trees.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindLavaca$10,000no account filed
August 2013Thunderstorm WindLavaca$5,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and power lines.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindLavaca$5,000Power lines were blown down by strong thunderstorm winds.
September 1996Tornado (F0)Lavaca$4,000no account filed
August 2024Thunderstorm WindLavaca$2,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down power lines.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindLavaca$2,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down power lines on Adams Street.
April 2018Thunderstorm WindLavaca$2,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and power lines.
April 2014Thunderstorm WindLavaca$2,000Strong thunderstorm wind blew down large tree limbs and power lines.
May 2008Thunderstorm WindLavaca$1,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down trees and power lines.
September 1996Thunderstorm WindLavaca$1,000no account filed
June 1994Thunderstorm WindLavaca$500Thunderstorm winds downed some tree limbs.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindLavaca$500no account filed
April 2001Thunderstorm WindLavaca$100Thunderstorm winds blew down trees onto Highway 22.
May 1999Thunderstorm WindLavaca$100A large tree was uprooted in Lavaca.
June 1996Thunderstorm WindLavaca$100no account filed
April 2025Flash FloodLavaca-Multiple roadways were flooded east of Lavaca, including portions of Highway 96.
February 2023FloodLavaca-Portions of Crowe Road near E Utah Ranch Road were flooded northeast of Lavaca.
March 2023Flash FloodLavaca-Locally heavy rainfall resulted in widespread flooding in Lavaca.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindLavaca-Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees.
February 2019Flash FloodLavaca-Portions of Highway 252 were closed due to flooding between Sullivan Road and Highway 217.
November 2018Thunderstorm WindLavaca-Strong thunderstorm wind uprooted trees.
May 2017FloodLavaca-Portions of Highway 252 were closed due to flooding.
December 2015FloodLavaca-Highway 96 east of Lavaca was closed due to flooding.
December 2015FloodLavaca-Highway 252 southeast of Lavaca was closed due to flooding.
December 2015FloodLavaca-Portions of Highway 96 were closed due to flooding.
May 2015Flash FloodLavaca-Adams Street in Lavaca was flooded.
May 2015Flash FloodLavaca-The Lavaca City Park was flooded.
October 2014Thunderstorm WindLavaca-Strong thunderstorm wind snapped large tree limbs.
March 2010Thunderstorm WindLavaca-Two inch diameter tree limbs were blown down onto Highway 96.
August 2009Flash FloodLavaca-Portions of 18th Street were flooded.
January 2007Flash FloodLavaca-Several roads were flooded and closed around town.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindLavaca-Severe thunderstorms moved across northwest Arkansas during the early morning of July 24th. Strong thunderstorm winds downed trees at Devil's Den State Park six miles southeast of Strickler, and several utility lines were blown down by strong winds in Lavaca.
May 2025HailLavaca-no account filed
March 2024HailLavaca-no account filed
May 2019HailLavaca-no account filed
May 2019HailLavaca-no account filed
April 2012HailLavaca-no account filed
April 2011HailLavaca-no account filed
June 2005HailLavaca-no account filed
April 2004HailLavaca-no account filed
April 1999HailLavaca-no account filed
February 1997Flash FloodLavaca-no account filed
December 1996HailLavaca-no account filed
January 1995HailLavaca-no account filed
January 1995HailLavaca-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Sebastian County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Diamond Grove2.1 miles25
Bloomer3.4 miles25
Ursula4.3 miles22
Central City4.3 miles25
Beverly4.5 miles22
Island6.0 miles22
Auburn (historical)6.1 miles25
Carnis6.3 miles21

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on LavacaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2331006The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 77456. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.