19 flood insurance claims·$184,084 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 Custer 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 summer thunderstorms dominates the flood profile of Custer County, accounting for the vast majority of historical flood events over the last 30 years compared to standard riverine floods. NOAA storm records document multiple instances of this hazard, including a mesoscale convective system that produced urban flash flooding on June 23, 2023, and slow-moving storms along a stationary boundary that caused heavy rainfall and flooding between May 31 and June 1, 2022.
National Flood Insurance Program records show claims filed across multiple zones, indicating that flood risk extends beyond designated high-risk areas. Properties located in FEMA Zone A recorded 7 claims with an average payout of $18,303 and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Meanwhile, properties in Zone X recorded 6 claims with an average payout of $15,728 and an average recorded water depth of 1 inch, and Zone X_UNSHADED recorded 5 claims with an average payout of $2,728 and an average water depth of 1 inch. Zone X_SHADED recorded 1 claim with an average payout of $292 and an average water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within FEMA Zone A, as well as lower-lying parcels in Zone X that have historically experienced property damage and insurance payouts from localized flash flooding.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 2 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 2019, with 4 claims and $52,005 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, 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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Custer County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
32 federal disaster declarations since 1982, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Oct 26, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 7, 2019 |
| Wildfires | Apr 11, 2018 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Nov 27, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
22 since 1996: 19 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2023 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 9, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jun 8, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 1, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2019 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 7, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 3, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 23, 2023. Convection during the early morning hours of the 23rd, centered across the Texas Panhandle, organized into a small mesoscale convective system (MCS) as it entered into portions of western Oklahoma by the mid-morning time frame. Severe wind gusts, a report of large hail and urban flash flooding were noted from western into central Oklahoma through the early afternoon hours.
Flash Flood · Jul 9, 2023. An impactful severe weather event occurred across portions of western into central Oklahoma during the early morning hours of the 9th. Initially, a broken line of strong to severe thunderstorms entered northwestern Oklahoma and slowly organized into a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS). Additional organized/severe storms developed across central Oklahoma owing to an increasing low-level jet/isentropic ascent. S…
Flood · Jun 8, 2022. A complex of storms moved into western Oklahoma from the Texas panhandle during the early morning hours of the 8th, with reports of large hail and severe wind gusts received.
Flash Flood · Jun 8, 2022. A complex of storms moved into western Oklahoma from the Texas panhandle during the early morning hours of the 8th, with reports of large hail and severe wind gusts received.
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 Custer 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.