If you’re a resident of Oklahoma, there’s one important fact you have to deal with and that is there will be plenty of natural disasters there. Yeah, you’ll experience natural disasters anywhere in the country, but the type and frequency will vary depending on where you are residing.
According to a report from The Zebra, an insurance comparison site, “Over the last five years, all 50 U.S. states have issued at least one disaster declaration in preparation for or in response to a natural disaster event.”
However, the top three states where you are most likely to experience a natural disaster are California, Washington, and Oklahoma. Along with Oregon and Texas, these states issued the most disaster declarations from 2015 to 2019.
The analysis is corroborated by a separate report from Carrier Management. The report cites an analysis from Recoop, a multi-peril disaster insurance company, which examined 20 years of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) data regarding severe weather statistics from each state.
Recoup found that since 2000, the state with the most number of natural disasters was Oklahoma. More than 1.17 million Oklahoma residents experienced 52 natural disasters ranging from wildfires to tornadoes to severe storms to ice storms.
Oklahoma is indeed a hotbed for natural disasters. But, which one is the most common in the state?
Oklahoma’s Most Common Natural Disasters
Because Oklahoma is tagged as the most disaster-prone state in the country, you would expect to experience more types of natural disasters more frequently here. The Sooner State is impacted by wildfires, winter storms, tornadoes, earthquakes, hail, lightning, and severe storms and flooding.
But, among these, there are three that stand out for being the most common natural disasters in the state. These are wildfires, severe storms, and tornadoes.
Wildfires
In the U.S., wildfires or fires were the no. 1 reason for the issuance of disaster declarations from 2015 to 2019, according to The Zebra report, which analyzed data from FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), along with their proprietary data, for disaster declarations for the period. The report noted that 44% of federal aid and resources were requested most commonly for the natural disaster.
In Oklahoma, The Zebra report issued similar findings: “In the heart of tornado alley, Oklahoma was actually more likely to issue disaster declarations for fires than severe storms or tornadoes. Over a five year period, Oklahoma issued 13 fire disaster declarations but it’s worth noting that in 2019, Oklahoma set the record for the most tornadoes.”
According to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM), humans, or more specifically, human activities, are the no. 1 reason for wildfires. In particular, the OEM found that burning debris that is not properly contained sparks wildfires in the state.
Of course, this is assuming that the natural or environmental conditions also set the stage for possible wildfires. We’re talking about dry conditions and high winds. So, when sparks or burning trash get blown by the wind and touch a dry surface, there’s a high possibility that it will ignite a fire.
And, once lit, wildfires can be hard to put out in those dry conditions. In the words of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF), “Wildland fires are a force of nature that can be nearly as impossible to prevent, and as difficult to control, as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. … In the wrong place at the wrong time, wildfires can wreak havoc, threatening lives, homes, communities, and natural and cultural resources.”
Severe storms
Another common natural disaster in Oklahoma are severe storms. It is defined by the Washington State Military Department as a sudden atmospheric disturbance that may include any or a combination of the following: strong winds, rain, thunderstorms, lightning, tornadoes, snow, large hail, or other mixed precipitation.
According to the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Oklahoma had 76 severe storm events out of 115 confirmed weather or climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion from 1980 to 2024. This averaged to 1.7 severe storms each year.
Severe storms occurred over 4x more than drought, which is the second most frequent natural disaster for the period. It was also the most expensive natural disaster, with total costs for damages resulting from the severe storms ranging from $20 to $50 billion. Meanwhile, droughts caused $10 to $20 billion.
In 2024, the NCEI recorded 17 severe storm events, including high wind, tornado outbreaks, and hailstorms. One such severe storm hit Oklahoma City in November leaving power outages, damaged structures, destroyed neighborhoods, and injured people in its wake.
“It leveled a complete neighborhood in Choctaw [located east of Oklahoma City],” the town’s mayor, Chad Allcox, told The Associated Press. “Power lines are down everywhere … a lot of the roads are blocked, hard to get through. Very large trees blocking roadways.”
Tornadoes
This one will come as no surprise to many, as Oklahoma is located in Tornado Alley. This part of the country, which includes Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma as well as parts of Texas, Louisiana, Colorado, Iowa, and Nebraska, is one of the most tornado-prone areas in the world. Tornado Alley experiences more than 50 tornadoes in a year, on average, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (OEM).
Tornado season in Oklahoma begins in March and lasts until May, with most tornadoes happening between 4 to 9 pm. However, this natural disaster can occur at any time of the year and at any time of the day and night.
One of the most deadly tornadoes to hit the state is the Woodward Tornado of April 1947. Created by a storm that originated in the Texas Panhandle, the Woodward tornado reached an F5 rating on the Fujita Scale, with speeds of around 50 miles per hour and was up to 1.8 miles wide. The resulting damage was massive, especially in terms of human casualty. But, the tornado would be one of the reasons why the then Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) instituted a tornado watch and warning program, which resulted in decreasing fatalities from tornadoes in the years that followed.
Most common natural disasters in Oklahoma
In conclusion, for the State of Oklahoma, wildfires, severe storms, and tornadoes are the most prevalent natural disasters, requiring constant preparedness and safety measures from its residents.