288 flood insurance claims·$5.0M paid·5 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 Kingfisher 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 thunderstorm activity dominates the flood risk in Kingfisher County, supported by 26 recorded flash flood events and 9 general flood events over the last 30 years. Recent occurrences include a mesoscale convective system on July 7, 2023, that caused brief training of heavy thunderstorm cores and street flooding near the community of Kingfisher, as well as a significant severe weather outbreak on May 6-7, 2024. Multi-day heavy rainfall events driven by slow-moving storms have also produced flooding, such as the event on June 28, 2021.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that high-risk Zone A properties should pay the most attention, accounting for 252 claims with an average payout of $18,664 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Properties in shaded Zone X areas have also experienced significant impacts, averaging $39,452 per claim across 15 claims with an average recorded water depth of 6 inches. Unshaded Zone X properties recorded an average water depth of 11 inches across 5 claims with an average payout of $13,382, while unknown zones recorded 11 claims averaging $15,193 with an average water depth of 3 inches, and standard Zone X properties recorded 5 claims averaging $38,911 with an average water depth of 2 inches.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
7% of Kingfisher County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
272 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 11 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 66 claims and $2.8M paid, the year of 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.
7 NOAA storm reports from Kingfisher County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
35 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 5 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| 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 Winter Storms And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Nov 27, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 5, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm | Feb 24, 2013 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
35 since 1996: 26 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | May 6, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 12, 2023 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Jul 7, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Jun 28, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 30, 2007 | $15,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · May 6, 2024. A significant severe weather outbreak, including ten (10) tornadoes, impacted northern and central portions of the WFO Norman Forecast Area during the evening of the 6th into the early morning hours of the 7th. The synoptic pattern across the western half of the Continental United States favored a significant severe weather episode across the region, with a powerful (110-120 knot) upper-level jet streak ejecting a…
Flash Flood · May 12, 2023. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed from border-to-border in the forecast area, along a cold front that extended from the West Texas Plains into Missouri River Valley. Supportive magnitudes of instability and wind shear allowed for all severe hazards to be observed. In addition to large hail and damaging winds with the strongest storms, a well-documented tornado occurred near Tonkawa in Kay County, OK.
Flash Flood · Jul 7, 2023. On the morning of the 7th, a robust mesoscale convective system (MCS) entered portions of northwestern Oklahoma and translated towards central Oklahoma through mid-morning hours. A corridor of wind damage and one tornado occurred across Woodward County due to a mesovortex. Elsewhere, intermittent increases in storm intensity lead to reports and measurements of severe-caliber wind and small hail. Brief training of…
Flood · Jun 28, 2021. A very moist airmass and slow moving storms led to a multi-day heavy rainfall event for much of the area. 6 to 8+ inches fell in a swath from southwest OK northeast along the I-44 corridor. Several storms also produced isolated severe weather with hail and strong winds reported.
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 Kingfisher 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.