153 flood insurance claims·$2.4M 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 Pottawatomie 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 driven by severe thunderstorms dominates the flood risk profile in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma. Over the last 30 years, the NOAA Storm Events Database recorded 35 flash flood events resulting in 3 deaths, alongside 16 general flood events. Recent severe weather episodes, such as those in April 2025, involved slow-moving upper-level systems, quasi-stationary boundaries, and repeated rounds of heavy rainfall that triggered widespread flash flooding across the region.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that flood risks extend beyond designated high-risk zones, though impacts concentrate heavily there. Properties located in FEMA Zone A account for the vast majority of claims with 127 filings, averaging a $19,740 payout with an average recorded water depth of 4 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties recorded 16 claims averaging a $13,065 payout with an average water depth of 4 inches, and Zone X_UNSHADED properties recorded 5 claims averaging a $3,225 payout with an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Properties with unknown zone designations logged 5 claims averaging an $898 payout with an average water depth of 2 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties situated within FEMA Zone A due to the high frequency and severity of claims, while remaining aware that properties in Zone X and unshaded areas also face documented flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
4% of Pottawatomie County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
132 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 2007, with 33 claims and $871,368 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms, Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding, Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes and Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 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.
13 NOAA storm reports from Pottawatomie County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
44 federal disaster declarations since 1970, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Clear Pond Fire | Mar 14, 2025 |
| East Thunderbird Fire | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Apr 25, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Apr 19, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 2, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Oct 26, 2020 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
51 since 1996: 35 flash floods and 16 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | $100,000 · 1 killed |
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Apr 20, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flood | Apr 19, 2025 | $25,000 |
| Flash Flood | Mar 23, 2023 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Mar 23, 2023 | $5,000 |
| Flash Flood | May 4, 2022 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash 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…
Flood · Apr 20, 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.…
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.…
Flash Flood · Mar 23, 2023. The approach of a compact upper wave, combined with a sagging frontal boundary across the area, provided the lift needed for widespread thunderstorm development. This included a few supercell storms, though given development on the cool side of the surface boundary, these storms remained 'elevated' and produced severe hail. Training thunderstorms also lead to flash flooding during the afternoon/evening of the 23rd…
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 Pottawatomie 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.