3,822 flood insurance claims·$71.2M paid·9 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 Tulsa 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 dominates the flood risk profile in Tulsa County, accounting for 244 events and 3 deaths compared to 77 general flood events resulting in 7 deaths over the last 30 years. Severe weather events frequently produce locally heavy rainfall, such as the storms driven by upper-level disturbances and warm fronts that caused flash flooding in April 2025 and multiple flash flood events in May 2025.
National Flood Insurance Program records indicate that claims occur across multiple zones with varying impacts. Zone A has accumulated the highest volume with 2,179 claims averaging a $21,459 payout and an average recorded water depth of 3 inches. Meanwhile, unshaded Zone X properties have experienced 1,151 claims averaging an $18,159 payout with an average water depth of 2 inches, and Zone X properties recorded 254 claims with a higher average payout of $48,294 and an average water depth of 4 inches. Shaded Zone X accounts for 180 claims averaging a $22,098 payout with a 3-inch average water depth, and Zone D lists 43 claims averaging $4,335 with a 2-inch average water depth.
Homeowners, real estate agents, and journalists should pay the most attention to properties in Zone A, which holds the highest concentration of claims, as well as properties in Zone X designations that demonstrate significant average payouts and recorded water depths despite being outside standard high-risk areas.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
38% of Tulsa County’s flood insurance claims were on properties rated outside FEMA’s high-risk zones.
3,510 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 3 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 1984, with 1,532 claims and $31.1M paid, the year of Severe Storms & 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.
139 NOAA storm reports from Tulsa County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Oklahoma flood stories →
40 federal disaster declarations since 1971, 9 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Jun 14, 2023 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 2, 2022 |
| Severe Winter Storm | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Severe Winter Storms | Feb 8, 2021 |
| Flooding | May 7, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 7, 2019 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | May 5, 2015 |
| 265th West Fire | Aug 5, 2011 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
321 since 1996: 244 flash floods and 77 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Jun 28, 2025 | $20,000 |
| Flood | May 25, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | May 25, 2025 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Apr 20, 2025 | — · 2 killed |
| Flash Flood | Jul 12, 2025 | — |
| Flash Flood | Aug 1, 2025 | — |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flash Flood · Jun 28, 2025. A slow-moving cluster of thunderstorms moved across northeastern Oklahoma during the morning of the 28th. These storms produced locally heavy rainfall, which resulted in some flash flooding.
Flood · May 25, 2025. Strong to severe thunderstorms developed into northeastern Oklahoma during the early morning hours of the 25th, as lift increased north of a warm front with the strengthening of the low level jet across the area. Very unstable air combined with strong wind shear to support the development of some supercell thunderstorms. Large hail to golf ball size occurred with the severe thunderstorms. Locally heavy rainfall al…
Flash Flood · May 25, 2025. Strong to severe thunderstorms developed into northeastern Oklahoma during the early morning hours of the 25th, as lift increased north of a warm front with the strengthening of the low level jet across the area. Very unstable air combined with strong wind shear to support the development of some supercell thunderstorms. Large hail to golf ball size occurred with the severe thunderstorms. Locally heavy rainfall al…
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…
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 Tulsa 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.