1,161 flood insurance claims·$30.4M 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 Ottawa 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.
River flooding from recurring heavy rainfall dominates Ottawa County, supported by 122 recorded flood events compared to 47 flash flood events over the last 30 years. Recent events illustrate this pattern, including a multi-day heavy rainfall event in April and May 2024 that delivered widespread totals of three to eight inches and caused moderate flooding along the Neosho River at Commerce. Locally heavy rainfall from cold front thunderstorms also produced flash flooding in August 2023.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that properties situated in Zone A bear the heaviest risk, accounting for 1,014 claims with an average payout of $29,464 and an average recorded water depth of 12 inches. Additional claims occurred outside designated high-risk areas, including 56 claims in Zone X averaging $37,359 with an average water depth of 12 inches, 38 claims in Zone UNKNOWN averaging $21,904 with an average water depth of 3 inches, 28 claims in Zone X_UNSHADED averaging $16,616 with an average water depth of 8 inches, and 25 claims in Zone X_SHADED averaging $24,153 with an average water depth of 3 inches. Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located near rivers and within Zone A.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
5% of Ottawa County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
1,067 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 286 claims and $13.1M paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms and Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes.
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.
56 NOAA storm reports from Ottawa County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
34 federal disaster declarations since 1974, 4 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 25, 2024 |
| 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, 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.
169 since 1996: 47 flash floods and 122 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | Apr 28, 2024 | — |
| Flood | May 1, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 13, 2023 | — |
| Flood | Jun 6, 2022 | — |
| Flood | May 5, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Jun 1, 2022 | — |
| Flood | Jun 27, 2021 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 26, 2021 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · Apr 28, 2024. Several days of reoccurring thunderstorm activity across northeastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas resulted in widespread 3-day rainfall totals of three to six inches by the morning hours of the 28th. Additional widespread rainfall occurred across northeastern Oklahoma on the 28th, with another one to two inches of rain occurring across the area. This multi-day, widespread heavy rainfall resulted in moderate f…
Flood · May 1, 2024. Several days of reoccurring thunderstorm activity across northeastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas during late April resulted in widespread rainfall totals of three to eight inches across the area. This multi-day, widespread heavy rainfall resulted in moderate flooding along the Neosho River at Commerce, which began April 28th, and continued into early May.
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 · Jun 6, 2022. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms affected northeastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas on the 5th through the morning of the 6th. The Grand-Neosho River basin received heavy rainfall from these thunderstorms, which resulted in moderate flooding of the Neosho River near Commerce.
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 Ottawa 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.