91 flood insurance claims·$918,707 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 Stephens 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 history of Stephens County, Oklahoma, accounting for 61 recorded events and 2 deaths alongside 11 standard flood events over the past 30 years. Recent impacts are illustrated by severe convective storms and heavy rainfall in April 2025 and May 2025, which brought repeated rounds of heavy rain and significant flash flooding concerns to the region.
National Flood Insurance Program claims data indicates that properties in both high-risk and moderate-to-low risk areas have experienced flood losses. Zone A properties account for 49 claims with an average payout of $12,695 and an average recorded water depth of 7 inches. Meanwhile, Zone X properties recorded 24 claims with an average payout of $18,222 and an average water depth of 11 inches, and Shaded Zone X properties recorded 13 claims with an average payout of $6,270 and an average water depth of 1 inch. Unshaded Zone X properties logged 3 claims with an average payout of $1,232 and an average water depth of 0 inches, and Zone D recorded 1 claim with a $0 average payout and an average water depth of 0 inches.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the closest attention to properties located in Zone A and Zone X, as these zones have experienced the highest number of claims and notable average water depths during flood events.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
25% of Stephens County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
65 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 8 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 24 claims and $267,748 paid, the year of Severe Winter Storms, 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.
15 NOAA storm reports from Stephens County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
35 federal disaster declarations since 1973, 3 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Wildhorse Fire | Mar 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | Nov 2, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Jun 14, 2023 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Oct 26, 2020 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Apr 30, 2019 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Jun 11, 2016 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
72 since 1996: 61 flash floods and 11 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | $15,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 30, 2025 | $30,000 |
| Flash Flood | Apr 26, 2025 | — |
| Flood | May 2, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Apr 27, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Oct 4, 2023 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 19, 2020 | — |
— = 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…
Flash Flood · Apr 26, 2025. A slow-moving mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) produced severe weather and flash flooding during the morning and afternoon of the 26th. An initial complex of thunderstorms across southwestern Oklahoma and western-north Texas produced reports of thunderstorm wind damage and large hail, especially with a supercell thunderstorm that moved near the city of Lawton. Areas of persistent heavy rainfall also led to flash…
Flood · May 2, 2025. Numerous severe thunderstorms impacted portions of central and southern Oklahoma and western-north Texas early on the morning of the 2nd. Synoptically, this convective episode was driven by the approach of a weak shortwave trough rounding the periphery of a broader upper system across the Central and Northern Plains. Very strong elevated instability and sufficient wind shear promoted organized thunderstorm cluster…
Flash Flood · Apr 27, 2024. A widespread, long-duration and historic severe weather and tornado outbreak occurred from the late morning through late evening on the 27th. In all, 32 tornadoes affected portions of the WFO Norman Forecast Area, the third most in a single day during the period of reliable record. This included six significant (EF-2+) tornadoes and one violent (EF-4) tornado that struck Marietta (Love County). ||Synoptically, a s…
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 Stephens 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.