States › Oklahoma › Stephens County

Stephens County, Oklahoma

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 40137 · 43,129 residents (2021) · 870 sq mi · dominant hazard Hail

Hail · 598Tornado · 70Flood · 72Wind · 315Winter · 46

Stephens County within Oklahoma. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Stephens County, Oklahoma, has 1,341 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them hail.

That is 154.1 events per 100 square miles, above the Oklahoma figure of 120.9, and 310.9 per 10,000 residents against 208.0 statewide.

35 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 5 deaths and 36 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $20M and crop damage at $8.3M.

FEMA has designated the county in 35 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding (major disaster, 18 Mar 2025).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 91 claims since 1978, of which 71 were paid, totalling $919K (about $13K per paid claim). FEMA counts 39 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($23M a year across 18 hazards).

3 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

35events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

1,341events since 19505 deaths, 36 injuries recorded

35disaster declarationslast 18 Mar 2025

91NFIP flood claims$919K paid

Compared with Oklahoma and the United States

Measure	Stephens County	Oklahoma	US
Recorded events since 1950	1,341	82,919	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	154.1	120.9	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	310.9	208.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	35	2,570	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	5	705	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$20M	$9.6B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.1	3.3	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$13K	$24K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	20.5	17.0	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Hail: 2Tornado: 11Wind: 4

Hail: 16Tornado: 9Wind: 5

Hail: 13Tornado: 13Wind: 15

Hail: 69Tornado: 2Wind: 25

Hail: 157Tornado: 9Flood: 6Wind: 85Winter: 9Heat: 2Cold: 2Lightning: 9Fog: 3

Hail: 147Tornado: 6Flood: 25Wind: 95Winter: 12Heat: 3Drought: 19Wildfire: 3Lightning: 1Fog: 6Other: 3

Hail: 108Tornado: 8Flood: 22Wind: 49Winter: 15Drought: 58Wildfire: 1

Hail: 86Tornado: 12Flood: 19Wind: 37Winter: 10Heat: 86Cold: 9Drought: 35

171950s301960s411970s961980s2821990s3202000s2612010s2942020s

Recorded events in Stephens County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningFogOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 663 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 536 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Hail598

Wind315

Drought112

Heat91

Flood72

Tornado70

Winter46

Cold11

Lightning10

Fog9

Wildfire4

Other3

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Hail	598	—	1.9%	detail
■ Wind	315	—	1.3%	detail
■ Drought	112	—	1.7%
■ Heat	91	1	1.9%
■ Flood	72	2	1.7%	detail
■ Tornado	70	1	1.4%	detail
■ Winter	46	1	1.2%	detail
■ Cold	11	—	1.7%
■ Lightning	10	—	2.7%
■ Fog	9	—	2.9%
■ Wildfire	4	—	0.7%
■ Other	3	—	1.3%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
15 May 1977	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	1	2	County
12 Jan 2007	Winter Storm	Winter	—	$20K	—	1	—	Forecast zone
20 Jul 1998	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	—	Forecast zone
12 Jun 2016	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
1 May 2019	Flash Flood	Flood	—	—	—	1	—	County
3 Nov 2024	Tornado	Tornado	EF3	$5.0M	—	—	6	County
27 Nov 2005	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	$1.0M	—	—	4	Forecast zone
22 Feb 1975	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	4	County
19 Apr 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25K	—	—	4	County
20 Mar 2010	Winter Weather	Winter	—	—	—	—	3	Forecast zone
8 Feb 1966	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	2	County
22 Feb 1975	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	2	County
11 Jun 1970	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$25K	—	—	2	County
22 Apr 1955	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$3K	—	—	2	County
28 Jul 1962	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	1	County
16 Apr 1969	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	—	1	County
2 Mar 1977	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$250K	—	—	1	County
20 Apr 1957	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$3K	—	—	1	County
19 Jun 1953	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$250	—	—	1	County
1 Aug 2000	Drought	Drought	—	—	$8.3M	—	—	Forecast zone

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
18 Mar 2025	DR-4862	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Public assistance
15 Mar 2025	FM-5564	Fire management assistance	Fire	Wildhorse Fire	Public assistance
19 Jul 2023	DR-4721	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	Public assistance
24 Feb 2021	DR-4587	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms	Individual assistance, Public assistance
17 Feb 2021	EM-3555	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
21 Dec 2020	DR-4575	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
5 Apr 2020	DR-4530	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3462	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
12 Jul 2019	DR-4453	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Public assistance
15 Jul 2016	DR-4274	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
26 May 2015	DR-4222	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 May 2011	DR-1985	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm And Snowstorm	Public assistance
2 Feb 2011	EM-3316	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
5 Mar 2010	DR-1883	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
25 Feb 2010	DR-1876	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
30 Jan 2010	EM-3308	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
19 Jun 2009	DR-1846	Major disaster	Fire	Wildfires	Individual assistance
10 Apr 2009	FM-2812	Fire management assistance	Fire	Velma Fire	Public assistance
10 Dec 2007	EM-3280	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms	Public assistance
31 Aug 2007	DR-1723	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes	Public assistance
24 Aug 2007	DR-1718	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
7 Jul 2007	DR-1712	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
1 Feb 2007	DR-1678	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Winter Storms	Public assistance
14 Jan 2007	EM-3272	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms And Flooding	Public assistance
10 Jan 2006	DR-1623	Major disaster	Fire	Extreme Wildfire Threat	Individual assistance, Public assistance
5 Sep 2005	EM-3219	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
1 Feb 2002	DR-1401	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Ice Storm	Individual assistance
29 Jun 2001	DR-1384	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes	Public assistance
5 Jan 2001	DR-1355	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Ice Storm	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Dec 2000	EM-3158	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter And Ice Storm	Public assistance
18 May 1990	DR-866	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
9 Jul 1987	DR-794	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Public assistance
26 Oct 1983	DR-693	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Public assistance
13 Apr 1979	DR-576	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms & Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Jun 1973	DR-392	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, & Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Stephens County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 197891

Paid claims71

Total paid$919K

Average paid claim$13K

Repetitive-loss properties72 severe

Residential policies in force390.2% of 20,326 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	1	0	$0	—
2025	5	4	$298,183	$74,546
2019	1	1	$6,291	$6,291
2017	1	1	$22,313	$22,313
2016	5	3	$75,325	$25,108
2015	4	3	$7,447	$2,482
2011	1	0	$0	—
2009	2	2	$16,280	$8,140
2008	1	1	$953	$953
2007	24	19	$267,748	$14,092
2000	1	1	$590	$590
1996	1	1	$4,582	$4,582
1995	2	1	$18,774	$18,774
1992	1	1	$13,852	$13,852
1991	4	3	$23,797	$7,932
1990	2	2	$7,626	$3,813
1989	2	2	$10,703	$5,351
1988	10	8	$99,887	$12,486
1987	8	7	$20,378	$2,911
1986	1	0	$0	—
1985	1	1	$1,387	$1,387
1984	1	1	$1,232	$1,232
1982	8	7	$17,160	$2,451
1981	1	1	$2,487	$2,487
1979	1	0	$0	—

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Lowscore 65.9 of 100

Expected annual loss$23MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceRelatively Low

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Low	$6,660,074
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$6,224,758
Cold wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,902,150
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$1,756,227
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$1,596,361
Strong wind	Relatively High	$1,411,677
Wildfire	Relatively Low	$980,601
Ice storm	Relatively High	$693,047
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$613,196
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$472,395
Lightning	Relatively Low	$127,481
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$89,878
Hurricane	Very Low	$13,294
Landslide	Very Low	$833

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles3

Tracks within 50 miles1

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Erin	2007	78 mi	58 mph
Carla	1961	50 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1900	15 mi	52 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

73533 67
73529 11
73055 7

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Stephens County, OK?

NCEI records 598 hail events in Stephens County since 1950, in 63 different years; that is about 7.8 recorded events a year. 189 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Stephens County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 70 tornadoes in Stephens County since 1950, 19 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 1.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Stephens County?

18 Mar 2025: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding, a major disaster declaration for severe storm. The county appears in 35 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Stephens County, and how much was paid?

91 NFIP claims since 1978, 71 of them paid, for $919K in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Stephens County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Low" for overall risk, "Relatively Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Moderate" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Low" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Stephens County compare with the rest of Oklahoma?

154.1 recorded events per 100 square miles against 120.9 statewide, and 2.1 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 3.3. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.