Clayton High School-Auditorium · Photo: Kenny918 · CC BY-SA 3.0Storms, floods and disasters in Clayton
Clayton isn’t graded for hazard risk: Clayton has 568 residents; we grade towns of 1,000 or more.
What Clayton 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
Wildfire
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 Clayton flood? No paid flood claims on record
FEMA’s records show no paid flood insurance claims in Clayton. That’s not a promise: most homes don’t carry flood insurance, so small floods go unrecorded.
Clayton isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.
Insurance rates: Pushmataha County.3 federal disasters brought FEMA money to Clayton
Disasters that paid out in Clayton itself (aid to households or repair grants to the Town of Clayton), newest first, with that year’s flood claims.
- 2015Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding15 households applied for aid$9K aid approved$7K to the Town of Clayton for repairs
- 2008Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding1 households applied for aid$500 aid approved
- 2005Extreme Wildfire Threat$4K to the Town of Clayton for repairs
Pushmataha County has had 23 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.
Old photos of Clayton after a storm or flood belong in the town’s history. Add one, or share what you remember below.
Add to the Clayton archive →Get ready for what Clayton 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.
- Clear dead leaves and brush within 5 feet of the house.
- Sign up for local alerts and know two ways out.
- Keep N95 masks for smoky days.
- 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 Clayton
Is Clayton 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 Pushmataha County, 0.2% of all homes carry federal flood insurance.
How much is flood insurance in Clayton?
FEMA’s Community Rating System list shows no discount for Clayton’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 Clayton?
By FEMA money that reached Clayton, Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding (2015): 15 households applied for aid, $9K approved, and $7K to the Town of Clayton for repairs.
Storm stories
Memories, warnings and help from neighbors in Clayton.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (December 2025), census-tract table, combined by where Clayton’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.