Natural hazards · Carter

Carter, OK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Carter comes from tornadoes, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 1 federal disaster brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Carter?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Carter to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from tornadoes and drought.

Tornadoes30%Drought17%Inland flooding14%Cold waves10%Ice storms7%Wildfire6%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Carter faces

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

Tornadoes

30% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Drought

17% of expected damage

Recorded about 112 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

14% of expected damage

Well below average · higher than 21% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Cold waves

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 91% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Ice storms

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Wildfire

6% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 96% of U.S. places

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic 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 Carter flood?

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Beckham County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

4storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Carter

1 federal disaster brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CarterDeclared for Beckham County only

2015

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

1 household applied for aid $488 aid approved

Beckham County has had 23 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. Carter 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 Carter’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Carter. 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.