111 flood insurance claims·$3.9M 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 Okmulgee 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 heavy rainfall dominates the flood history of Okmulgee County. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 82 flash flood events alongside 44 general flood events. Recent incidents include slow-moving storms that produced flash flooding on July 12, 2025, as well as severe thunderstorms driven by upper-level disturbances that caused flash flooding on April 20, 2025, and flooding on April 4, 2025.
Federal insurance data indicates that properties located within FEMA flood zones experience distinct risk levels. Zone A properties account for the majority of historical National Flood Insurance Program claims with 90 filings, averaging a payout of $35,156 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties logged 18 claims with an average payout of $53,210 and an average water depth of 4 inches, and Zone X Shaded properties recorded 3 claims with an average payout of $14,171 and an average water depth of 3 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within designated high-risk Zone A areas, while acknowledging that moderate-risk Zone X areas also experience significant, costly flood claims.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
3% of Okmulgee County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
93 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 6 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 2013, with 22 claims and $1.0M paid.
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.
61 NOAA storm reports from Okmulgee County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
40 federal disaster declarations since 1971, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 25, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 2, 2022 |
| 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, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 30, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 16, 2017 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Flooding | Dec 26, 2015 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
126 since 1996: 82 flash floods and 44 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 20, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 19, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jul 12, 2025 | — |
| Flood | Apr 4, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 7, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Sep 23, 2023 | $20,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 23, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 23, 2023 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Apr 20, 2025. Strong to severe thunderstorms developed across portions of eastern Oklahoma during the late evening of the 19th, as a strong upper level disturbance slowly translated into the Southern Plains, increasing low level forcing along and ahead of a weak surface front that stretched across the area. Weak instability combined with strong wind shear to support some severe weather. The strongest storms produced damaging wi…
Flash Flood · May 19, 2025. Severe thunderstorms developed over central Oklahoma along and ahead of a dry line during the afternoon of the 19th, as an upper level disturbance approached the Southern Plains. These thunderstorms moved northeast off the dry line and across portions of eastern Oklahoma during the mid afternoon and evening hours. The atmosphere east of the dry line across eastern Oklahoma became very unstable during the afternoon…
Flash Flood · Jul 12, 2025. Slow-moving thunderstorms developed across portions of northeastern Oklahoma during the morning of the 12th, along and ahead of a cold front that was slowly pushing into the area. Locally heavy rainfall resulted in some flash flooding.
Flood · Apr 4, 2025. Strong to severe thunderstorms developed across portions of eastern Oklahoma during the early morning hours of the 4th, as lift associated with an approaching upper level disturbance increased north of a stationary front across northeastern Oklahoma and southern Arkansas. The strongest storms produced large hail up to golf ball size and damaging wind gusts.||Additional rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms occu…
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 Okmulgee 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.