84 flood insurance claims·$2.5M paid·1 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 Carter 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 from severe thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Carter County, Oklahoma, accounting for 37 events and one death over the last 30 years compared to 4 general flood events. This risk is driven by severe weather patterns, such as the multiple rounds of hail-producing thunderstorms and robust supercells that impacted the area in May 2025.
Federal insurance data demonstrates that flood impacts extend across multiple zones, with the highest concentration of claims occurring in high-risk areas. Specifically, Zone A accounts for 49 claims with an average payout of $34,457 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Meanwhile, various designations of Zone X—including unshaded, shaded, and general Zone X categories—have recorded a combined 34 claims with average payouts ranging from $18,456 to $64,535 and average recorded water depths between 1 and 7 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within designated Zone A flood areas where the highest volume of historical claims is concentrated, as well as properties in Zone X designations that remain vulnerable to significant average water depths and payout costs during severe flash flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
21% of Carter County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
62 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 5 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 2015, with 27 claims and $1.5M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, 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.
10 NOAA storm reports from Carter County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
33 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Hospital Road Fire | Feb 19, 2026 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 25, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 5, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Straight-line Winds | May 10, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 28, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
41 since 1996: 37 flash floods and 4 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 22, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 22, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 19, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 6, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flood | May 1, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 4, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 1, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 9, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 22, 2025. Multiple rounds of hail-producing thunderstorms impacted portions of the WFO Norman Forecast Area on the 22nd. Morning convection was initiated by moist isentropic ascent in low to mid-levels. With sufficient elevated instability and wind shear already in place, a few transiently organized thunderstorms produced hail from south-central into north-central Oklahoma. Thunderstorm intensity gradually increased towards…
Flash Flood · Apr 19, 2025. A severe weather and flash flood episode occurred across central and southern portions of the WFO Norman Forecast Area from the evening of the 19th into the early morning hours of the 20th. A slow-moving upper system continued to approach the area on the 19th. This, along with strong/moist low-level ascent atop a quasi-stationary boundary, helped initiate widespread thunderstorms across the region mentioned above.…
Flood · May 6, 2025. A round of heavy thunderstorms impacted southern Oklahoma during the morning of the 6th, resulting in additional flooding across areas already saturated from previous heavy rainfall.
Flood · May 1, 2025. Very heavy rainfall during the latter portions of April 2025 resulted in prolonged river flooding across portions of central and southern Oklahoma during the first days of May 2025.
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 Carter 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.