Natural hazards · Walters

Walters, OK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Walters comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is moderate for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 9 claims here since 2007. 12 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

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

Expected damage

How exposed is Walters?

Moderate

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Walters to be higher than in 53% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and drought.

Inland flooding31%Drought17%Tornadoes16%Strong wind11%Heat waves6%Cold waves6%Everything else14%

By hazard

What Walters faces

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

Inland flooding

31% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 48% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 2 years in the area

Drought

17% of expected damage

Recorded about 97 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

16% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 89% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Strong wind

11% of expected damage

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

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Heat waves

6% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 67% of U.S. places

Recorded about 16 times a year in the area

Cold waves

6% of expected damage

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

Recorded about once a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesLightning

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 Walters flood?

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

9paid claims since 2007

$161Kpaid to owners

1homes flooded more than once

20072026

Biggest named events

Early summer storms: 4 claims, $66K
Thunderstorms: 3 claims, $35K

Homes that flooded again and again

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

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Cotton County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

10storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Walters

12 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WaltersDeclared for Cotton County only

2023

Severe Storms, Straight-Line Winds, and Tornadoes

$70K to the City of Walters for repairs

2021

Severe Winter Storms

15 households applied for aid $19K aid approved

2017

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

$36K to the City of Walters for repairs

2016

Severe Storms and Flooding

$25K to the City of Walters for repairs

2015

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

27 households applied for aid $48K aid approved $149K to the City of Walters for repairs

2010

Severe Winter Storm

$7K to the City of Walters for repairs

2007

Severe Winter Storms

$16K to the City of Walters for repairs

2007

Severe Storms, Tornadoes and Flooding

$12K to the City of Walters for repairs

2007

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

40 households applied for aid $52K aid approved $61K to the City of Walters for repairs

2005

Extreme Wildfire Threat

7 households applied for aid $21K aid approved $3K to the City of Walters for repairs

2001

Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes

$25K to the City of Walters for repairs

2000

Severe Winter Ice Storm

$14K to the City of Walters for repairs

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