Natural hazards · Bowlegs

Bowlegs, OK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Bowlegs comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 6 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Bowlegs?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Bowlegs to be higher than in 78% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding23%Tornadoes21%Heat waves14%Hail14%Cold waves9%Wildfire9%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Bowlegs faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

23% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 55% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

21% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 9 years in the area

Heat waves

14% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 76% of U.S. places

Recorded about 20 times a year in the area

Hail

14% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 98% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingDroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Bowlegs flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in Bowlegs.

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Bowlegs isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Seminole County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Bowlegs

6 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Bowlegs itself: aid to households, or repair grants to the Town of Bowlegs.

Brought FEMA money into BowlegsDeclared for Seminole County only

2022

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

2015

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, and Flooding

6 households applied for aid $5K aid approved

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding

1 household applied for aid

2007

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

1 household applied for aid $6K aid approved

2005

Extreme Wildfire Threat

1 household applied for aid $1K to the Town of Bowlegs for repairs

2003

Severe Storms and Tornadoes

1 household applied for aid $789 aid approved

Seminole County has had 24 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and ice storms.

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Bowlegs is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Bowlegs’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Bowlegs. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.