As deadly floods wreak havoc in states across the U.S., a new study shows Oklahoma ranks seventh among the top 10 states suffering weather-related damages to life and property.
A nationwide study from Your Insurance Attorney reviewed fatalities, injuries and property damage across all 50 states between 2020 and 2024 to determine a weather damage score. Oklahoma ranks seventh, with 31 fatalities, 493 total injuries, and $666.53 million in property damage during that period.
According to the study, Arizona came in first with 1,405 fatalities, 36 injuries and $212.79 million in property damage. Notably, Oklahoma had the second-lowest number of fatalities but the sixth-highest amount of property damage among the 10 states most impacted by severe weather.
The report links to its methodology, which normalized the data based on fatalities per one million people, injuries per one million people and damage per person in U.S. dollars.
The study comes as Texas, New Mexico and Chicago navigate deadly floods that have surprised authorities and traumatized communities with their severity.
Deadly floods terrorize nation as Oklahoma ranks top 10 for weather damage
In central Texas, emergency crews were using backhoes, bare hands, helicopters and horses Wednesday to search through miles of debris for the 160 people still believed to be missing, the Associated Press reported.
Over 100 people have been confirmed dead so far after heavy rains sent floodwaters ripping through Hill County, with dozens of summer camp girls among the deceased. “We will not stop until every missing person is accounted for,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday in response to the devastating weather damage. “Know this also: There very likely could be more added to that list.”
In New Mexico, pouring rains swept away entires houses and at least three lives in Ruidoso. A man, a four-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy were swept away in the floods, the Village of Ruidoso announced Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, heavy rainfall caused flash flooding that left some cars stuck in high water on the city’s West Side. “It was bad. It was heavy,” a driver named Tony told WGN News. “We heard the warning, but … under (the) bridge it’s really, really bad. We got stuck on the end.”
Mitigating the risk of future floods
Oklahoma, no stranger to severe weather, has experienced tornadoes, wildfires, floods heat waves and earthquakes that have all done damage to life and property.
The Environmental Protection Agency notes that increasing green infrastructure and assessing flood risks can help reduce the threat to communities as localized floods overwhelm drainage systems.
“Heavy precipitation events have increased in recent years and are expected to become more frequent and intense as global temperatures continue to rise. As a result, the risk of flooding is likely to increase in many areas across the United States, the EPA wrote on its website.
As President’s Trump’s budget bill cuts funding to critical weather research centers and scientists, it’s unclear how local communities will be prepared to respond to the damage caused by increasingly severe weather.
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- NOAA, National Weather Center cuts leave staff concerned as severe weather season approaches
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