Natural hazards · Indianola

Indianola, OK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Indianola comes from drought, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. 2 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Indianola?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Indianola to be higher than in 74% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought31%Inland flooding27%Tornadoes10%Wildfire9%Heat waves8%Everything else15%

By hazard

What Indianola faces

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

Drought

31% of expected damage

Recorded about 28 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

27% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 68% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 94% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Wildfire

9% of expected damage

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

Heat waves

8% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 79% of U.S. places

Recorded about 25 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Indianola flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Pittsburg County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

3storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Indianola

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into IndianolaDeclared for Pittsburg County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

2 households applied for aid $7K aid approved

2015

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

2 households applied for aid $242 aid approved

Pittsburg County has had 26 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. Indianola 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 Indianola’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Indianola. 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.