FEMA Records
40
Very high volume
Oklahoma · FEMA + NOAA + National Risk Index
Tulsa County, OK
40 FEMA disaster declarations (1971-2023), with a FEMA National Risk Index rating of Relatively High. Most common hazard: Severe Storm.
- 40
- FEMA declarations
- 27
- Major disasters
- 98
- NRI risk · Relatively High
- Severe Storm
- Top hazard
The verdict
Two federal records point in the busier direction for Tulsa County. Its 40 FEMA declarations are 24% above the Oklahoma county mean and exceed the count for 97% of the 3,266 counties in this registry. Separately, FEMA's National Risk Index places it in the riskiest 2%, based on modeled expected annual loss, social vulnerability, and community resilience.
- Riskiest 2%
- of U.S. counties for FEMA National Risk Index score
- Relatively High
- FEMA National Risk Index rating
- 40
- FEMA declarations vs 21 national county avg
- 3,821
- NFIP flood insurance claims filed
FEMA's National Risk Index and its declaration registry are separate measures. This county's registry includes Fire Management Assistance (FM) records, which are not presidential disaster declarations, alongside Major Disaster (DR) and Emergency (EM) records.
FEMA OpenFEMA declaration desk
County FIPS 40143 · Tulsa County 40 declarations · rank 99/3,266
DECL-HEAVY · MAJOR-MID · RANK-UPPER · PHOTO-FINISH · NRI-HIGH · ACT-HIGH · TYPE-LEAD · VS-ST-ABOVE
- DECL-HEAVY 40
- MAJOR-MID 68%
- RANK-UPPER #99
- PHOTO-FINISH Essex
- NRI-HIGH 98
- ACT-HIGH High
- TYPE-LEAD Severe Storm
- VS-ST-ABOVE +24%
Nearest declaration peer: Essex, MA (0 declaration gap)
FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 filing stamps for this county register. Read with this county → · Oklahoma state profile
Tulsa County among high-volume declaration counties
FEMA declaration records among Tulsa County and nearest peers by total count
- Los Angeles · largest
Los Angeles · largest
88 declarations
- Essex · near
Essex · near
40 declarations
- Grafton · near
Grafton · near
40 declarations
- Okfuskee · near
Okfuskee · near
40 declarations
- Tulsa · this county
Tulsa · this county
40 declarations
- Ujelang · smallest 1
Ujelang · smallest
1 declarations
What this shows Tulsa County carries 40 FEMA declaration records, ranked 99 of 3,266 counties in this registry.
Where Tulsa County ranks in the national declaration registry
Tulsa County vs. high-volume counties in this registry
FEMA disaster declarations, all-time · Tulsa County
40 Top 3% higher than 97% of 3,266 counties
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more counties. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source FEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 · 2026-08-25
Tulsa County's FEMA Risk Index score
Which hazard drives modeled loss here?
FEMA's modeled annual dollar loss for Tulsa County is led by Riverine Flooding (about $137.9M Expected Annual Loss, Historical Loss Ratio Relatively High), while Ice Storm carries the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High). EAL and risk score use different inputs; they need not agree.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025 release) - Expected Annual Loss vs composite risk rating by hazard.
What does Tulsa County's hazard record show?
Reading the federal records together
FEMA's NFIP table contains a substantial paid-claim history for this county: 3,821 claims and $71.2M in payments. PlainHazard labels 500 or more claims a heavy registry record; that is a reporting bucket, not an official FEMA risk grade. The average paid claim was $18.6K. NFIP totals exclude uninsured flood losses and do not measure how many properties currently carry a policy.
The declaration register points in the busier direction. Tulsa County's 40 federal records stand 24% above the Oklahoma county mean of 32.2. That comparison describes how often federal action was recorded, including any Major Disaster, Emergency, and Fire Management entries shown on this page; it does not convert the count into future probability.
FEMA National Risk Index
This county sits among the highest-risk counties nationally on FEMA's National Risk Index, a composite score of 97.9/100 (Relatively High). Expected Annual Loss is rated Relatively High (roughly $292.1M in annualized losses). Social vulnerability reads Relatively Moderate and community resilience Relatively Moderate, both critical modifiers of realized harm here. Of the 18 hazards FEMA models, Ice Storm stands out as the sharpest exposure here, rated Very High. FEMA's modeled frequency puts that hazard at an average of 1.3 times per year here, based on 86 historical events on record.
80 /100
Historical Activity Index
Very High historical activity
Tulsa County, OK · PlainHazard-derived composite from federal records
This 0–100 index is an explicit PlainHazard composite from FEMA declaration history only on the county surface (this DB has no county-level NOAA damage row) . It is not FEMA's National Risk Index, not a forecast, and not a safety, insurance, or preparedness rating. Open the calculator · Methodology
FEMA Declarations (1953–present) Very High
29/30
40 OpenFEMA declarations, full ingest window (1.9x national county average)
County Disaster Density High
16/25
40 declarations (1.2x state county average of 32)
Major Disaster Share High
17/25
27 of 40 declarations are major disasters (68%)
Hazard Diversity Very High
18/20
7 different disaster types declared in Tulsa County
FEMA NRI 8-hazard radar - Tulsa County
How to read this radar
Each axis: NRI risk rating (Very Low-Very High) on a 0-100 scale. Rounder = broad exposure; spiky = one or two hazards dominate.
Major Disaster share
68%
Major-heavy
NRI risk score
98
Relatively High
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Per-county per-hazard ratings, December 2025 release
How often does each hazard strike Tulsa County?
FEMA's National Risk Index models a historical event count and an annualized frequency for each hazard type. Most hazards are expressed as modeled occurrences per year; FEMA expresses drought and heat-wave frequency as event-days per year. These modeled frequencies are not forecasts.
| Hazard | NRI Risk Rating | Recurrence |
|---|---|---|
| Ice Storm | Very High | an average of 1.3 times per year |
| Heat Wave | Relatively High | 26 modeled event-days per year |
| Strong Wind | Very High | an average of 6.8 times per year |
| Tornado | Very High | roughly once every 1 years |
| Hail | Relatively High | an average of 9 times per year |
| Riverine Flooding | Relatively High | an average of 4.8 times per year |
| Cold Wave | Relatively High | an average of 1.7 times per year |
| Lightning | Relatively High | an average of 54 times per year |
| Wildfire | Relatively Moderate | roughly once every 288 years |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | roughly once every 833 years |
| Winter Weather | Relatively High | an average of 9.2 times per year |
| Drought | Relatively Moderate | 21 modeled event-days per year |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | roughly once every 7 years |
| Hurricane | Very Low | roughly once every 111 years |
Source: FEMA National Risk Index Modeled annualized frequency; drought and heat wave use event-days/year, December 2025 release
Disaster Types
Severe Storm 11
Flood 9
Severe Ice Storm 8
Fire 5
Tornado 4
Biological 2
Hurricane 1
What Severe Storm declarations mean here
Severe Storm is the most frequent declaration type on Tulsa County's record, 28% of its declarations. In FEMA's vocabulary this covers convective weather: thunderstorm straight-line winds, large hail, and the multi-day outbreaks that often carry embedded tornadoes. Activity is heaviest in spring and summer, though the season varies by region.
These events behave differently from a hurricane on paper. Damage tends to be distributed along a storm track rather than concentrated on a coastline, and a declaration typically follows an outbreak that crossed several counties over a few days, not a single point of impact. Because the qualifying threshold is the cost of uninsured public and individual losses rather than storm intensity, two similar storms can produce a declaration in one year and none in another.
Declaration counts describe past federal action. They are a record of what was declared, not a forecast of future hazard probability.
Declaration Types
What DR / EM / FM mean
FEMA categorizes declarations as Major Disasters (DR), Emergencies (EM), or Fire Management Assistance (FM).
Major Disaster - 27 67.5%
of all 40 declarations
Emergency - 10 25.0%
of all 40 declarations
Fire Management - 3 7.5%
of all 40 declarations
FEMA Declarations Timeline
| Year | Declarations | |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 2 | |
| 2020 | 2 | |
| 2019 | 2 | |
| 2015 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 4 | |
| 2010 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 2 | |
| 2007 | 2 | |
| 2006 | 2 | |
| 2005 | 1 | |
| 2002 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 2 | |
| 1999 | 1 | |
Show 10 earlier declaration years
| 1996 | 1 | |
| 1993 | 2 | |
| 1987 | 1 | |
| 1984 | 2 | |
| 1976 | 2 | |
| 1975 | 1 | |
| 1974 | 2 | |
| 1973 | 1 | |
| 1972 | 1 | |
| 1971 | 1 | |
Disaster Declarations
How the 40 FEMA declarations break into federal action codes (DR / EM / FM). Same DISTINCT grain as the table below.
Download these 40 declarations as CSV . FEMA source data is public domain; our derived presentation is CC0.
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4721 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 2023-07-19 |
| 4657 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2022-06-29 |
| 4587 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-24 |
| 3555 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2021-02-17 |
| 4530 | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR | Biological | 2020-04-05 |
| 3462 | COVID-19 | EM | Biological | 2020-03-13 |
| 4438 | SEVERE STORMS, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2019-06-01 |
| 3411 | FLOODING | EM | Flood | 2019-05-25 |
| 4222 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, STRAIGHT-LINE WINDS, AND FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 2015-05-26 |
| 2946 | 265TH WEST FIRE | FM | Fire | 2011-08-05 |
| 2944 | TURLEY FIRE | FM | Fire | 2011-08-02 |
| 1985 | SEVERE WINTER STORM AND SNOWSTORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2011-05-13 |
| 3316 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2011-02-02 |
| 1876 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | DR | Severe Storm | 2010-02-25 |
| 3308 | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM | Severe Storm | 2010-01-30 |
| 1735 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-12-18 |
| 3280 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-12-10 |
| 1678 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS | DR | Severe Storm | 2007-02-01 |
| 3272 | SEVERE WINTER STORMS AND FLOODING | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2007-01-14 |
| 2628 | SPERRY FIRE | FM | Fire | 2006-01-19 |
Show 20 earlier declaration records
| DR# | Title | Type | Incident | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1623 | EXTREME WILDFIRE THREAT | DR | Fire | 2006-01-10 |
| 3219 | HURRICANE KATRINA EVACUATION | EM | Hurricane | 2005-09-05 |
| 1401 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2002-02-01 |
| 1355 | SEVERE WINTER ICE STORM | DR | Severe Ice Storm | 2001-01-05 |
| 3158 | SEVERE WINTER AND ICE STORM | EM | Severe Ice Storm | 2000-12-28 |
| 1272 | OK, TORNADOES 5/3/99 | DR | Tornado | 1999-05-04 |
| 3118 | EXTREME FIRE HAZARD | EM | Fire | 1996-02-27 |
| 991 | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES & FLOODING | DR | Severe Storm | 1993-05-12 |
| 987 | SEVERE STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1993-04-26 |
| 778 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1986-10-14 |
| 709 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1984-05-31 |
| 704 | SEVERE STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1984-05-03 |
| 504 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1976-06-05 |
| 491 | SEVERE STORMS & TORNADOES | DR | Tornado | 1975-12-10 |
| 453 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-11-26 |
| 441 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-06-10 |
| 419 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1974-03-22 |
| 392 | SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, & TORNADOES | DR | Severe Storm | 1973-06-13 |
| 317 | SEVERE STORMS & FLOODING | DR | Flood | 1972-01-14 |
| 314 | HEAVY RAINS & FLOODS | DR | Flood | 1971-09-28 |
Storm Events in Oklahoma
Statewide NOAA context only. PlainHazard does not currently attribute these state totals to Tulsa County.
| Storm Type | Events | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | 5,894 | 0 | 1 | $19.8M |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 5,592 | 6 | 36 | $199.5M |
| Drought | 2,935 | 0 | 0 | $0 |
| Heat | 2,134 | 7 | 428 | $0 |
| Excessive Heat | 1,771 | 2 | 401 | $0 |
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database State-level aggregated data, 2015-2025
NFIP Flood Insurance Claims
Total Claims
3,821
Total Paid
$71.2M
Avg Per Claim
$18.6K
Source: FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA Claims Data
FEMA National Risk Index
Overall Risk
Relatively High
Score: 97.9/100
Expected Annual Loss
Relatively High
$292.1M/year
Social Vulnerability
Relatively Moderate
Community Resilience
Relatively Moderate
Hazard Risk Breakdown
Ice Storm Very High
Heat Wave Relatively High
Strong Wind Very High
Tornado Very High
Hail Relatively High
Riverine Flooding Relatively High
Cold Wave Relatively High
Lightning Relatively High
Wildfire Relatively Moderate
Earthquake Relatively Low
Winter Weather Relatively High
Drought Relatively Moderate
Landslide Relatively Low
Hurricane Very Low
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) Ratings reflect relative scores among all US counties. Data: hazards.fema.gov/nri
The model's sharpest exposure here: Ice Storm
Ice storms load power lines and tree limbs with accumulating freezing rain until they fail. The characteristic cost is infrastructure and multi-day power loss across a wide area rather than structural damage to buildings, which is why their consequences often outlast the weather that caused them.
Worth noting for Tulsa County: the model and the federal record do NOT point at the same hazard. Ice Storm carries the highest modeled rating (Very High), while the county's declaration history is led by Severe Storm. That is not a contradiction, the two measure genuinely different things. Declarations record federal ACTION, which requires damage costly enough to exceed state and local capacity; the Risk Index models EXPECTED annual loss across all 18 hazards whether or not any declaration ever followed. A hazard can be the county's largest modeled exposure and never once have driven a declaration.
National Risk Index ratings are modeled estimates of expected annual loss, not predictions of what will happen in any given year.
Data-matched county comparisons
Tulsa County's closest FEMA peer: Mobile County, AL
Comparisons use published FEMA declaration fields plus the National Risk Index composite for Tulsa County. Record similarity, not a safety rating.
Closest declaration profiles
Tulsa County shows 40 FEMA declarations, led by Severe Storm.
Similar Major-disaster share
Tulsa County: 27 of 40 of its declarations are Major.
Similar modeled NRI score
Tulsa County: NRI composite 97.9 (Relatively High).
How these peers are chosen
Cohort: Published U.S. county equivalents outside the source state or territory. Each metric keeps six ETL candidates; three unique destinations are shown after de-duplicating across axes. Declaration-volume ranking combines count and Major-disaster share and prefers a different leading incident type; Major-share ranks the Major fraction adjusted for volume; NRI ranks the modeled composite score only.
Retained FEMA snapshot feed for Tulsa County - capture-dated entries only.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by NRI score & FEMA declaration volume
Two PlainHazard-derived comparison paths for Tulsa County: nearest out-of-state National Risk Index composite and nearest FEMA declaration count (floor ≥5 records). Record similarity only, not a forecast of the next hazard.
Similar NRI composite
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA NRI score. This county: 97.9 (Relatively High).
Similar declaration volume
Nearest out-of-state counties by FEMA declaration count. This county: 40. NRI peers are excluded so the two link sets stay distinct.
Further reading for this county
Understanding disaster data
Tulsa County's NFIP claims file (3,821 claims) and FEMA declaration history measure different federal records - this guide separates them from modeled NRI risk.
More PlainHazard guides
- Most disaster-prone counties - U.S. counties ranked by FEMA declaration totals.
- Understanding disaster data - declarations vs storm events vs NRI scores.
- Preparing for natural disasters - household checklist (not county-specific advice).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common disaster type in Tulsa County?
The most common disaster type in Tulsa County is Severe Storm, with 11 declarations. Other disaster types include Flood (9), Severe Ice Storm (8), Fire (5).
How does Tulsa County's FEMA declaration record compare with the Oklahoma average?
FEMA lists 40 declaration records for Tulsa County. That is 24% above the Oklahoma county mean of 32.2. Its count is also 93% above the national county mean of 20.7. A larger declaration history records more federal actions; it is not a forecast of the county's next hazard.
How many major FEMA disaster declarations has Tulsa County received?
Tulsa County has received 27 major disaster declarations, representing 68% of all 40 disaster declarations.
How many flood insurance claims has Tulsa County filed?
Tulsa County has 3,821 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) claims totaling $71.2M in payments, with an average of $18.6K per claim.
Does FEMA's top risk-rated hazard match the highest Expected Annual Loss in Tulsa County?
No. In Tulsa County, Ice Storm has the highest National Risk Index rating (Very High), while Riverine Flooding leads Expected Annual Loss at about $137.9M. FEMA's risk score and dollar-loss model use different inputs, so the leaders often differ.
What was the worst year for disasters in Tulsa County?
The most active year for disaster declarations in Tulsa County was 2011, with 4 declarations. The county has FEMA disaster data spanning 1971 to 2023.
What is the FEMA National Risk Index score for Tulsa County?
According to the FEMA National Risk Index, Tulsa County, Oklahoma has an overall risk score of 97.9 out of 100 (Relatively High). Social vulnerability here rates Relatively Moderate, while community resilience comes in at Relatively Moderate. The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) score is Relatively High, representing $292.1M in annualized losses.
Which natural hazard poses the greatest risk to Tulsa County?
Based on FEMA NRI data, the highest-risk natural hazard in Tulsa County is Ice Storm (risk rating: Very High). Other significant hazards include Heat Wave (Relatively High) and Strong Wind (Very High). FEMA's modeled event frequency puts ice storm here at an average of 1.3 times per year, drawn from 86 historical events on record. The underlying methodology weighs historical event frequency against exposed assets and community vulnerability.
Data Sources & Methodology
Disaster declaration data comes from the FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2 API, which includes all federally declared disasters, emergencies, and fire management assistance grants.
Storm event data is sourced from the NOAA Storm Events Database (2015-2025), which tracks significant weather events including thunderstorms, tornadoes, floods, and winter storms.
Flood insurance data comes from the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) OpenFEMA claims dataset.
This data is provided for informational purposes only. FEMA disaster declarations represent federal response actions and may not capture all local emergencies or weather events.
FEMA OpenFEMA declarations + NRI for Tulsa County · vintage 2026-08-25 · Methodology · Oklahoma profile · Verify with FEMA OpenFEMA · Verify with NOAA Storm Events