States › Oklahoma › Tulsa County

Tulsa 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 40143 · 672,858 residents (2021) · 570 sq mi · dominant hazard Hail

Hail · 1,110Tornado · 98Flood · 329Wind · 894Winter · 52

Tulsa 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.

The NCEI record lists 2,681 events for Tulsa County, Oklahoma, between 1950 and 2026; hail account for the largest share.

That is 470.2 events per 100 square miles, above the Oklahoma figure of 120.9, and 39.8 per 10,000 residents against 208.0 statewide.

73 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 55 deaths and 1,688 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $814M.

FEMA has designated the county in 40 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes (major disaster, 19 Jul 2023).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 3,822 claims since 1978, of which 3,275 were paid, totalling $71M (about $22K per paid claim). FEMA counts 1,553 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively High" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively High" ($292M 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.

73events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

2,681events since 195055 deaths, 1,688 injuries recorded

40disaster declarationslast 19 Jul 2023

3,822NFIP flood claims$71M paid

Compared with Oklahoma and the United States

Measure	Tulsa County	Oklahoma	US
Recorded events since 1950	2,681	82,919	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	470.2	120.9	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	39.8	208.0	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	73	2,570	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	55	705	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$814M	$9.6B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	5.7	3.3	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$22K	$24K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	16.9	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: 6Tornado: 11Wind: 10

Hail: 26Tornado: 7Wind: 29

Hail: 20Tornado: 12Wind: 20

Hail: 44Tornado: 14Wind: 60

Hail: 355Tornado: 15Flood: 38Wind: 210Winter: 8Heat: 16Cold: 3Lightning: 5Other: 6

Hail: 222Tornado: 5Flood: 72Wind: 167Winter: 21Heat: 8Drought: 10Wildfire: 6Lightning: 6

Hail: 191Tornado: 25Flood: 168Wind: 238Winter: 12Heat: 36Drought: 38Wildfire: 1Lightning: 8Other: 2

Hail: 246Tornado: 9Flood: 51Wind: 160Winter: 11Heat: 31Drought: 22

271950s621960s521970s1181980s6561990s5172000s7192010s5302020s

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

Trend: 1,450 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 973 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

Hail1,110

Wind894

Flood329

Tornado98

Heat91

Drought70

Winter52

Lightning19

Other8

Wildfire7

Cold3

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Hail	1,110	—	3.5%	detail
■ Wind	894	1	3.7%	detail
■ Flood	329	10	7.6%	detail
■ Tornado	98	16	1.9%	detail
■ Heat	91	21	1.9%
■ Drought	70	—	1.1%
■ Winter	52	6	1.3%	detail
■ Lightning	19	1	5.0%
■ Other	8	—	3.6%
■ Wildfire	7	—	1.2%
■ Cold	3	—	0.5%

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
24 Apr 1993	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$500K	—	7	100	County
19 Apr 1981	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$2.5M	—	5	49	County
6 Aug 2007	Excessive Heat	Heat	—	—	—	2	200	Forecast zone
9 Jul 2011	Excessive Heat	Heat	—	—	—	2	175	Forecast zone
8 Dec 2007	Ice Storm	Winter	—	$101M	—	3	—	Forecast zone
6 Jul 1998	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	3	—	Forecast zone
24 Dec 2009	Winter Storm	Winter	—	—	—	3	—	Forecast zone
8 Jun 1974	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$25M	—	2	70	County
1 Aug 2008	Excessive Heat	Heat	—	—	—	2	46	Forecast zone
15 Jun 2016	Excessive Heat	Heat	—	—	—	2	29	Forecast zone
1 Aug 2011	Excessive Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	101	Forecast zone
21 May 2019	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	2	—	County
13 Jun 2020	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	2	—	Forecast zone
20 Apr 2025	Flood	Flood	—	—	—	2	—	County
25 Mar 2015	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$2.0M	—	1	30	County
13 Jul 2010	Excessive Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	28	Forecast zone
18 Jul 2016	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	11	Forecast zone
17 Jun 2016	Heat	Heat	—	—	—	1	8	Forecast zone
23 Jul 2005	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	1	County
6 May 2000	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$3.0M	—	1	—	County

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
19 Jul 2023	DR-4721	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes	Public assistance
29 Jun 2022	DR-4657	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual 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
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
1 Jun 2019	DR-4438	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
25 May 2019	EM-3411	Emergency	Flood	Flooding	Public assistance
26 May 2015	DR-4222	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance
5 Aug 2011	FM-2946	Fire management assistance	Fire	265th West Fire	Public assistance
2 Aug 2011	FM-2944	Fire management assistance	Fire	Turley Fire	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
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
18 Dec 2007	DR-1735	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms	Public assistance
10 Dec 2007	EM-3280	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storms	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
19 Jan 2006	FM-2628	Fire management assistance	Fire	Sperry Fire	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
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
4 May 1999	DR-1272	Major disaster	Tornado	Ok, Tornadoes 5/3/99	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 Feb 1996	EM-3118	Emergency	Fire	Extreme Fire Hazard	Public assistance
12 May 1993	DR-991	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance
26 Apr 1993	DR-987	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms & Tornadoes	Individual assistance
14 Oct 1986	DR-778	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
31 May 1984	DR-709	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance
3 May 1984	DR-704	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms & Tornadoes	Individual assistance
5 Jun 1976	DR-504	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Dec 1975	DR-491	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms & Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
26 Nov 1974	DR-453	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
10 Jun 1974	DR-441	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
22 Mar 1974	DR-419	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Jun 1973	DR-392	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, & Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
14 Jan 1972	DR-317	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Sep 1971	DR-314	Major disaster	Flood	Heavy Rains & Floods	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 Tulsa County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 19783,822

Paid claims3,275

Total paid$71M

Average paid claim$22K

Repetitive-loss properties14117 severe

Residential policies in force1,5530.7% of 221,015 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2026	10	6	$210,962	$35,160
2025	7	7	$721,976	$103,139
2024	1	1	$2,645	$2,645
2022	20	19	$953,746	$50,197
2021	8	8	$138,533	$17,317
2020	1	0	$0	—
2019	208	187	$18,418,684	$98,496
2018	3	2	$98,047	$49,023
2017	4	1	$10,643	$10,643
2016	2	2	$17,863	$8,931
2015	43	30	$1,115,293	$37,176
2013	2	1	$7,781	$7,781
2012	2	1	$15,108	$15,108
2011	14	3	$53,449	$17,816
2010	13	9	$68,070	$7,563
2009	14	10	$436,707	$43,671
2008	48	41	$604,754	$14,750
2007	29	22	$275,392	$12,518
2006	7	4	$46,887	$11,722
2005	1	0	$0	—
2004	24	18	$221,636	$12,313
2003	20	18	$80,075	$4,449
2002	41	26	$373,337	$14,359
2001	5	2	$2,910	$1,455
2000	218	190	$3,858,147	$20,306

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 Highscore 97.9 of 100

Expected annual loss$292MRelatively High

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Moderate

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively High	$137,895,309
Heat wave	Relatively High	$75,514,343
Tornado	Very High	$37,149,562
Strong wind	Very High	$10,824,076
Cold wave	Relatively High	$9,700,637
Hail	Relatively High	$6,756,889
Ice storm	Very High	$5,843,511
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$4,709,579
Wildfire	Relatively Moderate	$1,486,406
Lightning	Relatively High	$1,232,972
Drought	Relatively Moderate	$576,018
Winter weather	Relatively High	$352,638
Hurricane	Very Low	$46,908
Landslide	Relatively Low	$4,743

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 miles0

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Carla	1961	56 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1902	84 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1900	93 mi	40 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

74063 543
74112 474
74129 335
74135 327
74008 312
74070 248
74105 234
74145 168
74128 155
74136 127
74115 113
74114 81
74146 75
74132 70
74133 64
74107 56
74130 54
74073 43
74116 38
74106 37
74127 37
74011 35
74012 32
74055 28
74037 24
74120 23
74104 22
74137 17
74033 15
74110 11
74119 9
74103 7
74126 7
74170 6

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 Tulsa County, OK?

NCEI records 1,110 hail events in Tulsa County since 1950, in 66 different years; that is about 14.4 recorded events a year. 199 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Tulsa County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 98 tornadoes in Tulsa County since 1950, 27 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 16.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Tulsa County?

19 Jul 2023: Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, And Tornadoes, a major disaster declaration for severe storm. The county appears in 40 declarations since 1953.

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

3,822 NFIP claims since 1978, 3,275 of them paid, for $71M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

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

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

How does Tulsa County compare with the rest of Oklahoma?

470.2 recorded events per 100 square miles against 120.9 statewide, and 5.7 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.