Natural hazards · Watts

Watts, OK natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Watts comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very high 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 Watts?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Watts to be higher than in 85% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding.

Inland flooding65%Tornadoes10%Heat waves9%Everything else17%

By hazard

What Watts faces

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

Inland flooding

65% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 93% of U.S. places

Recorded about 3 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

10% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 71% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 12 years in the area

Heat waves

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 84% of U.S. places

Recorded about 13 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong 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 Watts flood?

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

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

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

Insurance rates: Adair County.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Watts

4 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

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

Brought FEMA money into WattsDeclared for Adair County only

2022

Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding

8 households applied for aid $28K aid approved

2015

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

3 households applied for aid $704 aid approved

2011

Severe Storms and Flooding

$3K to the Town of Watts for repairs

2009

Severe Winter Storm

$25K to the Town of Watts for repairs

Adair County has had 23 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. Watts 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 Watts’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Watts. 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.