Natural hazards · Cookson

Cookson, OK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Cookson comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 3 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Cookson?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Cookson to be higher than in 59% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding38%Heat waves15%Tornadoes13%Wildfire11%Ice storms9%Cold waves5%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Cookson faces

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

Inland flooding

38% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 60% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Heat waves

15% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 87% of U.S. places

Recorded about 18 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

13% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 53% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 10 years in the area

Wildfire

11% of expected damage

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

Ice storms

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Cold waves

5% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 54% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailWinter 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 Cookson flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cherokee County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Cookson

3 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into CooksonDeclared for Cherokee County only

2022

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

3 households applied for aid

2021

Severe Winter Storms

3 households applied for aid

2019

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

5 households applied for aid

Cherokee County has had 21 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. Cookson 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 Cookson’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Cookson. 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.