346 flood insurance claims·$3.2M paid·6 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 Kay 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.
Kay County experiences a flood risk dominated by frequent flash flooding, with 75 flash flood events compared to 14 standard flood events and 1 recorded flood death over the last 30 years. Heavy rainfall events drive this risk, as demonstrated on October 24, 2023, when storms dropped one to nearly four inches of rain with the highest totals concentrated in far northern Kay County, causing sporadic flash flooding. A historic severe weather and tornado outbreak also produced flash flooding across the region on April 27, 2024.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties located in high-risk Zone A face the heaviest concentration of risk, accounting for 285 claims with an average payout of $11,970 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. However, properties outside designated high-risk zones also experience losses, including 26 claims in Zone X averaging $10,390 with an average water depth of 8 inches, 17 claims in Zone X_SHADED averaging $7,384 with an average depth of 3 inches, and 13 claims in Zone X_UNSHADED averaging $10,282 with an average depth of 2 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties in Zone A due to the high volume of claims, while remaining aware of documented flood risks across Zone X properties.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
10% of Kay County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
315 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 2008, with 59 claims and $1.2M paid, the year of Severe Storms and Flooding 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.
8 NOAA storm reports from Kay County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
36 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 6 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 25, 2024 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Oct 26, 2020 |
| Flooding | May 7, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 7, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 30, 2019 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
89 since 1996: 75 flash floods and 14 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 27, 2024 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | Oct 24, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2019 | $10,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2019 | — |
| Flood | May 21, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 20, 2019 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 12, 2019 | $5,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 27, 2024. A widespread, long-duration and historic severe weather and tornado outbreak occurred from the late morning through late evening on the 27th. In all, 32 tornadoes affected portions of the WFO Norman Forecast Area, the third most in a single day during the period of reliable record. This included six significant (EF-2+) tornadoes and one violent (EF-4) tornado that struck Marietta (Love County). ||Synoptically, a s…
Flash Flood · Oct 24, 2023. A corridor of heavy rainfall, centered from southwest into north-central Oklahoma, occurred from the morning into early evening of the 24th. Widespread one to nearly four-inch rainfall totals were observed/reported during the period, with the highest totals located across far northern Oklahoma (Kay County). This resulted in sporadic occurrences of (flash) flooding.
Flash Flood · May 24, 2019. Scattered supercells merged into a linear system that produced a variety of severe weather on the 24th.
Flood · May 21, 2019. An extremely unstable environment led to widespread severe weather across Texas and Oklahoma on the 20th into the morning of the 21st.
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 Kay 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.