25 flood insurance claims·$1.0M paid·4 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Adair County, Oklahoma. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Flash flooding and river flooding from severe storms and frontal systems dominate the flood risk in Adair County, Oklahoma. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 43 flash flood events resulting in 4 deaths and 48 general flood events resulting in 1 death. Recent historical events illustrate this pattern, including severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in August 2024, multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms driven by a stationary front in February 2023, and a strong slow-moving storm system in May 2022.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed in both high-risk Zone A and moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas. Zone A properties experienced 21 claims with an average payout of $51,502 and an average recorded water depth of 10 inches. Zone X properties recorded 4 claims with an average payout of $25,399 and an average recorded water depth of 35 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within designated flood zones as well as structures outside mapped high-risk areas, given that significant water depths have been documented across multiple zones.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Adair County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
21 NFIP claims with a recorded rated flood zone, 1978 to date. The zone is the one FEMA used to rate that policy, which may not match today’s map. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 15 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
The worst year was 2011, with 10 claims and $502,387 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storm and Severe Storms and Flooding.
Bar height is scaled by square root so ordinary years stay visible next to the worst one. NFIP claims by year of loss. Source: OpenFEMA.
38 NOAA storm reports from Adair County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
29 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Nov 2, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 2, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 7, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 28, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 5, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
91 since 1996: 43 flash floods and 48 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Aug 17, 2024 | — |
| Flood | Feb 8, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 5, 2022 | — |
| Flood | May 5, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Nov 4, 2022 | — · 2 killed |
| Flood | May 4, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Apr 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 28, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Aug 17, 2024. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed into northeastern Oklahoma during the afternoon of the 16th, and became more widespread across the area during the evening and overnight hours. The atmosphere became very unstable during the late afternoon over eastern Oklahoma, and deep layer wind shear increased over the region during the evening with the approach of an upper level disturbance. This environment…
Flood · Feb 8, 2023. A cold front moved through much of eastern Oklahoma on the 7th, and became nearly stationary across southeastern Oklahoma and west central Arkansas through the 8th. This front was the focus for two rounds of showers and thunderstorms across the region. The first round occurred from the evening hours of the 7th through the early morning hours of the 8th, and the second round occurred from the mid morning hours of t…
Flash Flood · May 5, 2022. A strong storm system slowly moved from the central Rockies into the Southern and Central Plains on the 4th and 5th. The associated surface frontal boundary located over northern Texas early on the 4th moved north into central Oklahoma as a warm front by the late afternoon, and then near the Kansas border on the 5th ahead of a cold front. The first round of thunderstorms developed over eastern Oklahoma during the…
Flood · May 5, 2022. A strong storm system slowly moved from the central Rockies into the Southern and Central Plains on the 4th and 5th. The associated surface frontal boundary located over northern Texas early on the 4th moved north into central Oklahoma as a warm front by the late afternoon, and then near the Kansas border on the 5th ahead of a cold front. The first round of thunderstorms developed over eastern Oklahoma during the…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Adair County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.