122 flood insurance claims·$3.3M 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 Mayes 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 thunderstorms and slow-moving frontal systems dominates the flood history of Mayes County, Oklahoma. Over the last 30 years, NOAA records document 56 flash flood events resulting in 1 death, alongside 9 general flood events resulting in 1 death. Severe weather events, such as those driven by slow-moving cold fronts in March and August 2023, as well as complex storm systems in May 2022, have repeatedly produced locally heavy rainfall, damaging wind gusts, and subsequent flash flooding across the area.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risk extends beyond designated high-risk areas. Properties located in FEMA Zone A account for 85 historical claims with an average payout of $28,682 and an average recorded water depth of 13 inches. Additionally, properties in Zone X account for 32 claims with a higher average payout of $54,458 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches. Five claims were recorded in Zone UNKNOWN, with an average payout of $8,327 and an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within Zone A due to frequent claim activity and deeper average floodwaters, while keeping in mind that moderate-risk Zone X properties also experience significant flood claims and payouts.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
Less than 1% of Mayes County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
85 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 12 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 2009, with 26 claims and $1.3M paid, the year of Severe Winter Storm.
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.
27 NOAA storm reports from Mayes County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
31 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Jun 14, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 7, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 28, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 5, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
65 since 1996: 56 flash floods and 9 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Mar 23, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2023 | — |
| Flood | May 5, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 4, 2022 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 27, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 4, 2020 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 23, 2019 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 20, 2019 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Mar 23, 2023. Strong to severe thunderstorms developed across northeastern Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening hours of the 23rd, as a cold front moved slowly into the area. The strongest thunderstorms produced hail up to ping pong ball size. Locally heavy rainfall as a result of multiple rounds of thunderstorms developing along the slow-moving front, and spreading over the same areas, resulted in some flash flooding duri…
Flash Flood · Aug 13, 2023. Widespread thunderstorms developed across eastern Oklahoma during the evening hours of the 13th and early morning hours of the 14th, as a cold front moved through the region. The strongest thunderstorms produced damaging wind gusts. Locally heavy rainfall resulted in some flash flooding.
Flood · May 5, 2022. A strong storm system slowly moved from the central Rockies into the Southern and Central Plains on the 4th and 5th. The associated surface frontal boundary located over northern Texas early on the 4th moved north into central Oklahoma as a warm front by the late afternoon, and then near the Kansas border on the 5th ahead of a cold front. The first round of thunderstorms developed over eastern Oklahoma during the…
Flash Flood · May 4, 2022. A strong storm system slowly moved from the central Rockies into the Southern and Central Plains on the 4th and 5th. The associated surface frontal boundary located over northern Texas early on the 4th moved north into central Oklahoma as a warm front by the late afternoon, and then near the Kansas border on the 5th ahead of a cold front. The first round of thunderstorms developed over eastern Oklahoma during 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 Mayes 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.