Photo: OakleyOriginals · CC BY 2.0Storms, floods and disasters in Adair
Adair isn’t graded for hazard risk: Adair has 650 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Adair faces
Each hazard’s share of the building damage FEMA expects here, and how its rate compares with the rest of the country.
River and rain flooding
Ice storms
Shares are of FEMA’s expected building damage, the measure the grade uses; ranks compare each hazard’s building-damage rate with all 85,154 U.S. census tracts. In FEMA’s terms, river and rain flooding is FEMA’s “Inland Flooding” (rivers and streams overflowing their banks, or rain overwhelming drainage). FEMA defines coastal flooding as high or rising tides and storm surge, so surge damage is counted there. Drought isn’t listed: FEMA counts its losses in crops only.
Does Adair flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Adair. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Adair isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Mayes County.7 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Adair
Disasters that paid out in Adair itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Adair), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2024Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding1 households applied for aid$38K aid approved
- 2019Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding21 households applied for aid$71K aid approved
- 2015Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding3 households applied for aid$1K aid approved
- 2011Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$3K to the Town of Adair for repairs
- 2007Severe Winter Storms$1K to the Town of Adair for repairs
- 2007Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes2 households applied for aid$423 aid approved$3K to the Town of Adair for repairs
Show all 7
- 2007Severe Winter Storms$8K to the Town of Adair for repairs
Mayes County has had 22 natural disasters declared by the President since 1953, most often severe storms, then winter storms. Not counted: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina evacuee emergency, which covered counties that took in evacuees.
Also 1 FEMA wildfire suppression grant (Fire Management Assistance, not a disaster declaration) for fires in Mayes County, 2005–2005.
Old photos of Adair after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Adair archive →Get ready for what Adair faces
A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.
- Turn around at flooded roads: a foot of moving water can carry off a car.
- Flood insurance usually takes 30 days to start, so buy it before the forecast.
- Keep papers and medicines up high, in a grab-and-go bag.
- Ice brings down trees and lines: plan for days without power.
- Run a generator outside, far from doors and windows.
- Keep sand or salt by the door.
- Look up the address on FEMA’s flood map.
- Ask the seller or landlord whether it has ever flooded, and what flood insurance costs there.
- Get a flood insurance quote early: policies usually start 30 days after you buy.
Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.
Questions about natural hazards in Adair
Is Adair in a flood zone?
Flood zones are drawn street by street, so the answer depends on the address: look it up on FEMA’s flood map. In Mayes County, 8% of homes in mapped flood zones carry federal flood insurance, and 0.4% of all homes do.
How much is flood insurance in Adair?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Adair’s flood program. Premiums depend on the building; policies usually start 30 days after you buy, so get a quote early.
What was the biggest storm in Adair?
By FEMA money that reached Adair, Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding (2019): 21 households applied for aid, $71K approved.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Adair.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Adair’s residents lived in the 2020 census; 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. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. Preparedness tips: Ready.gov. FEMA’s model is an average of expected damage, not a forecast. How hazard risk is graded.