1,715 flood insurance claims·$24.7M 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 Oklahoma 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 weather events dominates the flood risk profile in Oklahoma County, accounting for 183 events and 16 deaths compared to 29 standard flood events over the last 30 years. Recent NOAA data documents significant flash flood and flood episodes occurring in April and May 2025, driven by slow-moving upper systems, strong instability, and repeated rounds of heavy rainfall from severe thunderstorms.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood losses extend well beyond high-risk areas. Zone A leads claim volume with 705 total claims, averaging 3 inches of recorded water depth and a $22,379 payout. Meanwhile, Zone X recorded 412 claims with an average of 7 inches of water depth and a $32,608 payout, and Zone D recorded 267 claims averaging 2 inches of water depth and a $4,237 payout. Unshaded Zone X properties accounted for 239 claims with an average of 3 inches of water depth and an $11,925 payout, while Shaded Zone X properties saw 65 claims averaging 3 inches of water depth and a $25,556 payout.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located within Zone A and Zone X, where claim frequencies and average payout amounts reflect significant financial exposure to both flash flooding and standard flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
30% of Oklahoma County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,009 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 1993, with 190 claims and $2.4M paid, the year of Severe Storms, Tornadoes & 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.
52 NOAA storm reports from Oklahoma County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
51 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Luther Fire | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Wildfires And Straight-line Winds | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Nov 2, 2024 |
| Hefner Fire, Oklahoma Fmag | Mar 31, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Oct 26, 2020 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Nov 27, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
212 since 1996: 183 flash floods and 29 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 29, 2025 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 19, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jun 14, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 12, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Jul 12, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 11, 2024 | $25,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
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 · Apr 29, 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…
Flash Flood · Apr 19, 2025. A severe weather and flash flood episode occurred across central and southern portions of the WFO Norman Forecast Area from the evening of the 19th into the early morning hours of the 20th. A slow-moving upper system continued to approach the area on the 19th. This, along with strong/moist low-level ascent atop a quasi-stationary boundary, helped initiate widespread thunderstorms across the region mentioned above.…
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 Oklahoma 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.