Natural hazards · Velma

Velma, OK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Velma comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. 4 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Velma?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Velma to be higher than in 58% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and tornadoes.

Inland flooding30%Tornadoes20%Wildfire11%Cold waves9%Hail8%Drought6%Everything else16%

By hazard

What Velma faces

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

Inland flooding

30% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 35% of U.S. places

Recorded about once a year in the area

Tornadoes

20% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once every 5 years in the area

Wildfire

11% of expected damage

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

Cold waves

9% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Hail

8% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 11 times a year in the area

Drought

6% of expected damage

Recorded about 50 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Velma flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Stephens County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

8storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Velma

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into VelmaDeclared for Stephens County only

2021

Severe Winter Storms

1 household applied for aid

2015

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

1 household applied for aid $713 aid approved

2009

Wildfires

20 households applied for aid $214K aid approved

2005

Extreme Wildfire Threat

5 households applied for aid $34K aid approved

Stephens 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. Velma 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 Velma’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Velma. 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.