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Chouteau Main Street 8-2026Photo: TulGuy · CC BY 4.0
C+Hazard risk
Natural hazards in Chouteau · FEMA

For ice storms, Chouteau’s building-damage rate is in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Chouteau gets a C+ for hazard risk: higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns. Most of that expected damage is river and rain flooding (60%), then ice storms (25%). Flood insurance has paid 1 claim here since 2019.

River and rain flooding 60%Ice storms 25%Tornadoes 4%

Graded on FEMA’s expected yearly building damage per dollar of building value (NRI v1.20, December 2025), weighted by where residents live; flood claims are shown, not graded. How hazard risk is graded

more than 60%of U.S. townsLess damageMoreExpected yearly damage per dollar of building, vs. the 21,298 U.S. towns we grade
Hazard risk
C+
in Oklahoma · higher than 60% of U.S. towns
Main hazard
River and rain flooding
60% of expected building damage
Flood claims
1
paid since 2019 · $14K
Disasters paid out here
10
of 22 declared for Mayes County
By hazard

What Chouteau 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

60%of expected building damage
About average · higher than 55% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Ice storms

25%of expected building damage
Well above average · in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts
Recorded about once a year in the area
Smaller shares here
 Tornadoes Hail Earthquakes Strong wind Wildfire Winter storms top 4% Lightning Hurricanes Cold waves Heat waves Landslides
FEMA models no building damage here
Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity
People, not buildings.Counting harm to people as well as buildings, FEMA’s model puts tornadoes at 15% of Chouteau’s expected losses. Tornadoes do little damage to buildings (3.5%), so they aren’t part of the grade.

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.

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.
Hazard risk grade

What’s behind Chouteau’s grade

River and rain flooding is 60% of the building damage FEMA expects in Chouteau, and Chouteau’s rate of river and rain flooding damage is higher than 55% of U.S. census tracts. Ice storms add 25%, at a rate in the top 1% of U.S. census tracts.

Where Chouteau sits
Chouteau
Least damageMiddleMost damage

C+ higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns (21,298).

All of Chouteau’s residents live in one census tract; the figures are that tract’s.

What drives the damage to buildings
River and rain flooding60%Ice storms25%Tornadoes4%Everything else11%

In dollars, FEMA expects about $1.8M a year in losses across Chouteau: $1.1M to buildings, the rest to people and crops.

Shared tract.All of Chouteau’s 2,059 residents (2020 census) live in one census tract, which it shares with Pin Oak Acres CDP (321 residents) and Sportsmen Acres town (317 residents) and Mazie CDP (74 residents). FEMA publishes its model by tract, so the rate and the hazard mix are the tract’s, the same for all of them. The flood claims below are the town’s own.
A shared figure. The grade describes the whole tract, not each street in it, and FEMA’s model is an average year for today’s buildings, not a record: the claims below are the record.

How TownRatings grades hazard risk →

Flood insurance claims

Does Chouteau flood? Rarely: 1 flood claim since 2019

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Chouteau, from FEMA’s records: 1.0 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 77% of the 13,809 U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Paid flood claims, by year
2019: 1 claim2020: 0 claims2021: 0 claims2022: 0 claims2023: 0 claims2024: 0 claims2025: 0 claims2026: 0 claims2019
20192026
1
paid claims since 2019
$14K
paid to owners
0
homes flooded more than once
$14K
average claim
of homes in flood zones are insured
of all homes are insured
No community discount

Chouteau 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.
What’s been done with FEMA grants
7storm safe rooms built
Disasters

10 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Chouteau

Disasters that paid out in Chouteau itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Chouteau), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.

  1. 2023Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, and Tornadoes$11K to the Town of Chouteau for repairs
  2. 2019Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Tornadoes, and Flooding25 households applied for aid$45K aid approved1 flood claim paid that year
  3. 2015Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding17 households applied for aid$31K aid approved
  4. 2011Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm$4K to the Town of Chouteau for repairs
  5. 2009Severe Winter Storm$13K to the Town of Chouteau for repairs
  6. 2007Severe Winter Storms$9K to the Town of Chouteau for repairs
Show all 10
  1. 2007Severe Storms, Flooding, and Tornadoes5 households applied for aid$405 aid approved
  2. 2007Severe Winter Storms$36K to the Town of Chouteau for repairs
  3. 2005Extreme Wildfire Threat32 households applied for aid$91K aid approved
  4. 2000Severe Winter Ice Storm$13K to the Town of Chouteau for repairs
Disasters declared, by decade
Paid out in ChouteauMayes County only

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.

Were you here?

Old photos of Chouteau after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.

Add to the Chouteau archive →
Be ready

Get ready for what Chouteau faces

A short kit for the hazards that drive the building damage here, what to check before you buy, and where neighbors get alerts.

When the river rises
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Ice storms
  • 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.
More from Ready.gov ↗
Before you buy or rent
  • 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.
When a storm is coming
Forecast and alertsWeather →911, the nearest ERSafety →

Know where neighbors sign up for alerts? Add it to the Handbook so everyone has it.

Questions about natural hazards in Chouteau

Is Chouteau at risk for natural disasters?

On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Chouteau has higher expected damage per building than 60% of U.S. towns: C+ for hazard risk. Most of the expected damage is river and rain flooding (60%) and ice storms (25%). The figures are for the one census tract the town shares with its neighbors. This is FEMA’s model of an average year for today’s buildings, not a forecast.

Does Chouteau flood?

Flood insurance has paid 1 claim in Chouteau since 2019, $14K in all, or 1.0 per 1,000 homes, fewer than 77% of U.S. towns with a flood insurance record.

Is Chouteau 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 Chouteau?

FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Chouteau’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 Chouteau?

By FEMA money that reached Chouteau, Extreme Wildfire Threat (2005): 32 households applied for aid, $91K approved.

Is Chouteau at risk from river and rain flooding?

It is the largest share of the building damage FEMA expects here (60%), and Chouteau’s rate for it is higher than 55% of U.S. census tracts.

Storm stories

Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Chouteau.

Town Square →
Start the conversation

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Chouteau’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.