229 flood insurance claims·$5.0M 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 Grady 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 convection dominates the flood profile of Grady County, Oklahoma. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 38 flash flood events compared to 3 general flood events. Recent severe weather patterns produced significant flooding, including an episode on May 1, 2025, driven by very heavy rainfall in late April, and widespread flash flooding from repeated rounds of heavy rain on April 30, 2025. Additional flash flood events occurred on November 2, 2024, and May 25, 2025, driven by strong instability and persistent severe convection.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that high-risk areas bear the heaviest burden, though properties outside mapped high-risk zones also experience losses. Zone A accounts for the vast majority of historical claims with 186 filings averaging $25,824 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Unshaded Zone X properties filed 18 claims with an average payout of $27,978 and an average water depth of 4 inches, while Zone X properties recorded 15 claims averaging $35,824 with a 3-inch average water depth.
Homeowners and real estate agents in Zone A should pay the closest attention to these risks, as high-risk flood zones account for the vast majority of insurance claims in the county. Properties in unshaded and shaded Zone X areas must also remain vigilant, as low-to-moderate risk zones have recorded multiple claims with average water depths reaching 3 to 4 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
10% of Grady County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
207 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 4 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 2007, with 56 claims and $2.0M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding, Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes and Severe Storms, 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.
9 NOAA storm reports from Grady County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
37 federal disaster declarations since 1983, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Norge Fire | Mar 14, 2025 |
| 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 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 11, 2016 |
| 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.
41 since 1996: 38 flash floods and 3 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flood | May 1, 2025 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Nov 2, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 8, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 28, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 15, 2018 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 7, 2018 | $10,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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 · May 25, 2025. This episode once again featured widespread severe convection across the central and southern extents of the WFO Norman Forecast Area from the afternoon of the 25th into early morning of the 26th. The background synoptic regime featured generally weak flow, with evidence of multiple weak embedded upper systems from northern Mexico into portions of the south-central United States. A persistent plume of strong insta…
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.
Flash Flood · Nov 2, 2024. An expansive (high-amplitude) longwave trough, in combination with unseasonable moisture/instability and wind shear, yielded a prolonged period of severe weather and flooding across the southern two-thirds of Oklahoma and portions of western-north Texas. While thunderstorms began during the daytime on the 2nd, the episode's first (and most impactful) convective period occurred during the late evening hours of 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 Grady 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.