Natural hazards · Cherokee

Cherokee, OK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cherokee comes from cold waves, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 16 claims here since 1981. 7 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cherokee?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cherokee to be higher than in 92% of U.S. communities, mostly from cold waves and inland flooding.

Cold waves34%Inland flooding28%Drought11%Ice storms10%Tornadoes8%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Cherokee faces

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

Cold waves

34% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 63% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

28% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Drought

11% of expected damage

Recorded about 71 times a year in the area

Ice storms

10% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 95% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

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 Cherokee flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Cherokee, from FEMA’s records.

16paid claims since 1981

$57Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

19812026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Ike: 1 claim, $2K

Homes that flooded again and again

■ FEMA “severe repetitive loss” (0) ■ flooded 2+ times

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Alfalfa County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

1storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Cherokee

7 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CherokeeDeclared for Alfalfa County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

$6K to the City of Cherokee for repairs

2019

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

14 households applied for aid $5K aid approved $5K to the City of Cherokee for repairs

2015

Severe Winter Storms and Flooding

$52K to the City of Cherokee for repairs

2010

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Straight-Line Winds

$5K to the City of Cherokee for repairs

2008

Severe Storms and Flooding

$33K to the City of Cherokee for repairs

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$4K to the City of Cherokee for repairs

2002

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$13K to the City of Cherokee for repairs

Alfalfa 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. Cherokee 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 Cherokee’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the City of Cherokee. 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.