54 flood insurance claims·$922,603 paid·1 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 McCurtain 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 and river flooding driven by heavy rainfall and warm front systems dominate the flood risk in McCurtain County. Over a 30-year period, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 107 flash flood events resulting in 1 death, alongside 11 general flood events resulting in 1 death, and 1 tropical storm event. Recent activity includes widespread showers and flash flooding driven by closed upper-level low pressure systems and warm fronts in January 2025, as well as strong thunderstorms along a stalled cold front in April 2025.
Federal insurance claims data shows that flood risk impacts properties both inside and outside designated high-risk areas. Zone A accounts for the vast majority of claims with 48 filings, averaging $19,073 per payout and an average recorded water depth of 2 inches. Additional claims occurred in Zone X with 3 claims averaging $20,076 and an average 6 inches of recorded water depth, Zone X_UNSHADED with 2 claims averaging $2,915 and an average 1 inch of water depth, and Zone X_SHADED with 1 claim averaging $1,160 and an average 1 inch of water depth. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A, while recognizing that lower-risk Zone X properties also experience occasional damaging flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
6% of McCurtain County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
51 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 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 2015, with 13 claims and $191,188 paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding and Severe Winter Storms 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.
80 NOAA storm reports from McCurtain County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1972, 1 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Jun 14, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 5, 2015 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Dec 5, 2013 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 31, 2011 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Jan 28, 2010 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
119 since 1996: 107 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jan 30, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jan 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 12, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 3, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 2, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 24, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Feb 8, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Feb 8, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jan 30, 2025. A closed upper level low pressure system shifted east from Southeast Colorado into the Oklahoma/Texas Panhandles into Western Oklahoma on January 30th, with an increased southerly low level flow allowing warm, humid, and very moist air to return back north across Northeast Texas, Southeast Oklahoma, and Southwest Arkansas with the passage of a warm front. Strong forcing near and north of the warm front ahead of th…
Flood · Jan 30, 2025. A closed upper level low pressure system shifted east from Southeast Colorado into the Oklahoma/Texas Panhandles into Western Oklahoma on January 30th, with an increased southerly low level flow allowing warm, humid, and very moist air to return back north across Northeast Texas, Southeast Oklahoma, and Southwest Arkansas with the passage of a warm front. Strong forcing near and north of the warm front ahead of th…
Flash Flood · Jun 12, 2025. An axis of training thunderstorms containing localized 3-4 inch per hour rainfall rates occurred along a well defined cold pool across parts of Northeast Texas and Southeast Oklahoma on the morning of June 12th. These thunderstorms resulted in localized heavy rainfall amounts across parts of McCurtain County. Thunderstorm inflow was characterized by 1500-3000 J/kg of MLCAPE, minimal CIN, 2-2.25 inch precipitable w…
Flash Flood · Apr 3, 2025. A warm and unstable air mass was in place across the Ark-La-Tex region on April 2nd ahead of an approaching cold front. With MLCAPE values near 2000 J/kg, along with strong effective bulk shear and steep mid-level lapse rates, widespread showers and strong thunderstorms rapidly developed and intensified along the front as it moved into Southeast Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening hours, resulting in isolate…
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 McCurtain 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.