400 flood insurance claims·$7.2M paid·3 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 Cleveland 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 heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Cleveland County, OK. Over the last 30 years, NOAA recorded 117 flash flood events resulting in 3 deaths, alongside 20 standard flood events. Recent activity includes severe weather and flash flood episodes in April 2025, driven by slow-moving upper systems, quasi-stationary boundaries, and repeated rounds of heavy rainfall.
Federal insurance claims data shows that flood risk extends across multiple zones, with the highest concentration of claims occurring in high-risk areas. Specifically, Zone A accounts for 223 claims with an average payout of $23,733 and an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Zone X properties recorded 102 claims with an average payout of $32,882 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone X_UNSHADED (59 claims, average payout of $11,319, average water depth of 4 inches), Zone D (6 claims, average payout of $24,381, average water depth of 3 inches), and Zone X_SHADED (6 claims, average payout of $23,963, average water depth of 1 inch).
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated in Zone A and Zone X, where claim frequencies and average payout amounts are highest during severe convective weather.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
23% of Cleveland County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
288 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 7 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 90 claims and $2.3M 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.
70 NOAA storm reports from Cleveland County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
43 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| East Thunderbird Fire | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Wildfires And Straight-line Winds | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 19, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Oct 26, 2020 |
| Okc Fire Complex | Feb 12, 2017 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 5, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
137 since 1996: 117 flash floods and 20 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 26, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 26, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 19, 2025 | $100,000 · 2 killed |
| Flash Flood | Jun 3, 2025 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 22, 2024 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 30, 2025. Multiple rounds of severe convection and flooding occurred from the predawn hours of the 29th into morning hours of the 30th. The most significant round of severe thunderstorm activity occurred across portions of western-north Texas on the evening of the 29th, where intense supercell thunderstorms produced very large hail, damaging wind gusts and a pair of significant (EF-2+) tornadoes. Significant flash flooding…
Flash Flood · Apr 30, 2025. Multiple rounds of severe convection and flooding occurred from the predawn hours of the 29th into morning hours of the 30th. The most significant round of severe thunderstorm activity occurred across portions of western-north Texas on the evening of the 29th, where intense supercell thunderstorms produced very large hail, damaging wind gusts and a pair of significant (EF-2+) tornadoes. Significant flash flooding…
Flash Flood · Apr 26, 2025. A slow-moving mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) produced severe weather and flash flooding during the morning and afternoon of the 26th. An initial complex of thunderstorms across southwestern Oklahoma and western-north Texas produced reports of thunderstorm wind damage and large hail, especially with a supercell thunderstorm that moved near the city of Lawton. Areas of persistent heavy rainfall also led to flash…
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.…
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 Cleveland 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.