Natural hazards · Sentinel

Sentinel, OK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Sentinel 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 Sentinel?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Sentinel to be higher than in 62% of U.S. communities, mostly from drought and inland flooding.

Drought25%Inland flooding22%Tornadoes16%Cold waves9%Strong wind8%Hail7%Everything else12%

By hazard

What Sentinel faces

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

Drought

25% of expected damage

Recorded about 87 times a year in the area

Inland flooding

22% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 38% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 90% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Strong wind

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Hail

7% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 9 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Sentinel flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Washita County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

13storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Sentinel

2 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into SentinelDeclared for Washita County only

2015

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

1 household applied for aid

2002

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$25K to the Town of Sentinel for repairs

Washita County has had 29 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. Sentinel 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 Sentinel’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Sentinel. 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.