Panama, Oklahoma

14 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1900 and the latest in 1978. It stands in the Panama-Bokoshe census division. It lies in ZIP code area 74951. It stands on Buck Creek. The Survey maps it on the Panama quadrangle. 1,269 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 453 feet above sea level.

Panama within Le Flore County

On record in Panama

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Skullyville County Jaillisted 1980

Population over time

2 figures

Panama fell from 1,413 to 1,269 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2010	1,413
2020	1,269	-144 (-10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 14 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1900 USGS Sallisaw quadrangle1:125000, 2 printings
1911 USGS Sallisaw quadrangle1:125000, 3 printings
1946 USGS Fort Smith quadrangle1:250000
1965 USGS Fort Smith quadrangle1:250000
1967 USGS Fort Smith quadrangle1:250000
1968 USGS Panama quadrangle1:24000
1977 USGS Panama quadrangle1:24000
1978 USGS Fort Smith quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
1978 USGS Fort Smith quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings

Fires near this place

63 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 63 fires within 5 miles of Panama between 1992 and 2019, burning about 1,050 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 15 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	25
Arson/incendiarism	15
Debris and open burning	9
Equipment and vehicle use	6
Railroad operations and maintenance	5
Recreation and ceremony	2
Natural	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
9 September 2011	Arson/incendiarism	35 acres	Oklahoma Division of Forestry	20429
30 September 2002	Arson/incendiarism	10 acres	Oklahoma Division of Forestry	not named
2 September 2002	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Oklahoma Division of Forestry	not named
13 September 1994	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Oklahoma Division of Forestry	not named
30 August 1995	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	Oklahoma Division of Forestry	not named
1 August 2006	Arson/incendiarism	75 acres	Oklahoma Division of Forestry	20416
8 July 2001	Equipment and vehicle use	6.0 acres	Oklahoma Division of Forestry	not named
6 July 1994	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	5.0 acres	Oklahoma Division of Forestry	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Le Flore County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Panama: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Unknown Sandstone Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
	Unknown Sandstone Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Le Flore County

Storms near this place

60 of 98 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Panama in 98 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 40 thunderstorm wind, 38 hail, 15 flood, 4 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2004	Hail	Panama	$100,000	Baseball size hail damaged roofs of buildings and vehicles. The largest of the stones was spotty. Otherwise more damage would have occurred.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$35,000	Strong thunderstorm wind blew down a tree, and blew down many power poles and power lines.
May 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$30,000	Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew a mobile home over.
August 2002	Lightning	Panama	$25,000	Lightning started a few fires in the Panama area around midday. A small storage shed was struck and burned. Another bolt of lightning struck the roof of a two story house. The roof and the upper floor of the house sustained severe damage.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$20,000	Strong thunderstorm wind blew down a tree onto a house.
May 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$15,000	Strong thunderstorm wind blew a portion of the roof off a house.
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$15,000	Strong thunderstorm wind blew down several trees, one fell onto a house. Power lines were also blown down.
November 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$15,000	The roof was blown off of a home near the power plant. In town, fences were blown over and marquee signs were pushed into the streets. At least 15 power poles were blown down throughout the Kiamichi Electric Cooperative's service area.
April 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$5,000	Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and power lines.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$5,000	Strong thunderstorm wind blew down power lines.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$3,000	Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew power lines down.
May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$3,000	Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew power lines down.
March 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$2,000	Strong thunderstorm wind blew down power poles.
June 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$2,000	Power lines were blown down in Panama.
March 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	$1,000	Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew a strip of siding off the post office.
June 1995	Hail	Panama	$500	no account filed
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph.
September 2020	Flash Flood	Panama	-	A home southwest of Panama was evacuated due to rising flood waters.
May 2019	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 2:30 pm CDT on May 1st. The river crested at 35.42 feet at 12:45 am CDT on the 3rd, resulting in moderate flooding. Agricultural land was flooded from Panama to Arkoma, and some local and county roads were impassable. The river fell below flood stage at 11:30 am CDT on the 4th.
February 2018	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 7:30 pm CST on February 23rd. The river crested at 35.50 feet at 11:30 am CST on the 25th, resulting in moderate flooding. Some agricultural land was flooded and portions of county roads were impassable. The river fell below flood stage at 7:45 pm CST on the 26th.
August 2018	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 2:00 pm CDT on August 15th. The river crested at 36.33 feet at 1:45 pm CDT on the 16th, resulting in moderate flooding. Some agricultural land was flooded and portions of county roads were impassable. The river fell below flood stage at 8:00 pm CDT on the 17th.
December 2018	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 8:30 am CST on December 27th. The river crested at 34.80 feet at 8:45 am CST on the 28th, resulting in moderate flooding. Some agricultural land was flooded and portions of county roads were impassable. The river fell below flood stage at 11:30 am CST on the 29th.
May 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts were estimated to 70 mph.
May 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees.
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Strong thunderstorm wind blew down large tree limbs.
January 2012	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 3:45 pm CST on January 25th. The river crested at 34.81 feet at 6:45 pm CST on the 26th, resulting in moderate flooding. The river fell below flood stage at 9:15 pm CST on the 27th.
March 2012	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 11:30 am CDT on March 20th. The river crested at 36.43 feet at 4:15 pm CDT on the 21st, resulting in moderate flooding. The river fell below flood stage at 10:45 am CDT on the 23rd.
March 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Strong thunderstorm wind blew down a large tree across Highway 59.
September 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	A storm spotter estimated thunderstorm wind gusts to 65 mph.
September 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees.
May 2011	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 5:45 am CDT on May 2nd. The river crested at 35.94 feet at 2:30 pm CDT on the 3rd, resulting in moderate flooding. The river fell below flood stage at 2:15 am CDT on the 5th.
May 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Emergency management estimated 60 mph wind gusts with thunderstorms.
April 2011	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 5:00 am CDT on April 25th. The river crested at 39.36 feet at 11:00 am CDT on the 26th, resulting in moderate flooding. The river fell below flood stage at 1:00 pm CDT on the 28th.
April 2011	Flash Flood	Panama	-	Several roads in and around town were flooded. County Road 1275 was flooded and closed east of town.
May 2009	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 7 pm CDT on the 2nd. The river crested at 35.32 feet at 2 am on the 4th, resulting in moderate flooding. The river fell below flood stage at 5 pm CDT on the 5th.
October 2009	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 11:45 a.m. CDT on October 9th. The river crested at 35.29 feet at 11:00 a.m. CDT on the 10th, resulting in moderate flooding. The river fell below flood stage at 7:00 p.m. CDT on the 11th.
May 2009	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 1215 am CDT on the 6th. The river crested at 34.49 feet at 430 am CDT on the 7th, resulting in moderate flooding. The river fell below flood stage at 930 am CDT on the 8th.
June 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	An emergency manager estimated 60 mile an hour wind gusts from a thunderstorm.
April 2008	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 9:49 am cdt on April 10th. The river crested at 40.16 feet at 9:00 pm cdt on April 11th. This crest classified the flood as a moderate flood. The river fell below its flood stage at 10:00 pm cdt on April 16th.
September 2008	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 5:45 pm cdt on the 3rd. The river crested at 34.65 feet at 7:30 pm cdt on the 4th. This crest classified the flood as moderate. The river fell below its flood stage at 1 am cdt on the 6th.
March 2008	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 8:15 a.m. cst on March 3rd. The river crested at 37.93 feet at 11:00 a.m. cst on March 4th. A crest at this level is considered a moderate flood. The river fell below its flood stage at 8:00 a.m. cst on March 6th.
March 2008	Flood	Panama	-	The Poteau River near Panama rose above its flood stage of 29 feet at 6:00 p.m. cdt on March 18th. The river crested at 42.84 feet at 2:00 a.m. cdt on March 20th. This crest classified the flood as a major flood. The river fell below its flood stage at 10:00 p.m. cdt on March 24th. Nearly 20,000 acres of farmland were flooded and several county roads crossing the river were impassable.
May 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Thunderstorm winds estimated to 60 mph blew down large tree limbs.
March 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	The broadcast media measured a 63 mile an hour thunderstorm wind gust.
May 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew down numerous trees.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph blew down large tree limbs.
May 2005	Flash Flood	Panama	-	Major flooding was reported in and around town.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew trees down.
September 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew a tree down.
April 1999	Flash Flood	Panama	-	Several streets in Panama were closed due to street flooding.
May 1995	Hail	Panama	-	Severe thunderstorms moved across eastern Oklahoma during the evening of May 7th. Widespread wind damage occurred in the city of Tulsa between 2005CST and 2030CST. Numerous homes, businesses, and vehicles in Tulsa were damaged by the winds, and numerous trees, power lines, fences, and signs were blown down throughout the city. Winds were estimated at 70 miles an hour at the National Weather Service Office in Tulsa. Lightning also started several house fires in the city of Tulsa. Strong thunderstorm winds damaged 50 to 60 mobile homes at the Riverbend Trailer Park two miles north of Bixby, and one resident of the park was injured. 2 mobile homes were damaged by strong winds four miles south of Glenpool, and several mobile homes were blown over five miles east of Big Cabin. Several trees and power poles were also blown down five miles east of Big Cabin. Strong thunderstorm winds in Pryor blew gas pumps over and blew part of the roof off a Circle K store. A barn was blown down two miles south of Afton, and strong winds damaged a barn roof in Cookson. Strong thunderstorm winds blew down power poles in Haskell, and power poles and telephone poles were blown down by strong winds just west of Coweta. Numerous trees, power lines, and signs were blown down in Bartlesville, and trees, power lines, and transformers were blown down in Bristow. Power lines and two trees were blown down one mile west of Bernice, and power lines were blown down across a road just northwest of Grove. Trees were blown down across a road three miles north of Jay, and a large tree was blown down onto State Highway 80 two miles north- northeast of Fort Gibson. Strong thunderstorm winds blew down trees in Pawnee, in Terlton, in Paden, five miles south of Pawhuska, in Okmulgee, in Hanna, in Stidham, in Vivian, near Bernice, eight miles north of Grove, and five miles north northwest of Sallisaw. Sixty mile an hour winds blew trees down in Claremore, and strong winds blew down large tree limbs in Wann, in Tahlequah, and in Canadian. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 75 miles an hour in Picher and to 60 miles an hour in Foraker, in Sand Springs, and 10 miles west of Jay. Half-dollar-size hail fell four miles south of Glenpool, and quarter-size hail fell two miles west of Talihina. Dime to nickel-size hail fell at numerous other locations in eastern Oklahoma.
March 1993	Hail	Panama	-	Numerous strong to severe thunderstorms developed in southwestern Oklahoma during the afternoon hours on the 29th and moved eastward into central and eastern Oklahoma during the evening and nighttime hours. Four weak tornadoes occurred in Oklahoma with this outbreak of severe weather. An F0 tornado occurred 2 miles west of Elk City and knocked down power poles and power lines. An F0 tornado briefly touched down in an open field in extreme southeast Tillman County 6 miles southeast of Grandfield, with no damage reported. The third tornado had the longest path of the four. This tornado traveled along a 5-mile path from 4 miles east of Alex to 3 miles west of Criner. The tornado was narrowrow (35 yards wide) and produced mainly F0 damage with a small area of F1 damage in McClain County. The fourth tornado developed after midnight in Lincoln County and moved into Okfuskee County along its 4.5-mile path from two miles southeast of Prague to 2.5 miles west-southwest of Paden. The tornado was an F1 and averaged 100 yards in width. The tornado rolled an abandoned bus 75 feet to the east-southeast and lifted a camper trailer 75 feet to the north. The tornado also tossed an 18-foot horse trailer into a barn, demolishing both structures. The tornado produced an estimated $250,000 in damage. Large hail also accompanied many of the storms. Softball-size hail was reported in Texola and near Sayre. Baseball-size hail fell shortly before 2200 CST and then again after 2300 CST in Waurika. The large hail in combination with strong winds and flash flooding caused between $250,000 and $500,000 in damage in Waurika. Numerous other locations in southwest Oklahoma received quarter- to golfball-size hail. Strong winds also caused widespread damage throughout southwest, central, and eastern Oklahoma. During the evening hours, a very small but intense microburst destroyed a building in Verden. Damage was estimated at $45,000. Strong thunderstorm winds near 70 mph blew out windows at several businesses in Frederick and blew a portion of the roof off the Frederick Middle School. Strong thunderstorm winds blew down a power line near Hammon, and winds estimated at between 70 and 80 mph occurred near Granite. In Dover, a downburst produced winds estimated at 60 mph which destroyed a mobile home, downed a power pole and some trees and broke off numerous tree limbs up to 10 inches in diameter. In Okmulgee County, severe thunderstorm winds during the early morning hours of the 30th blew an unoccupied mobile home over 5 miles to the west of Beggs. Strong winds in Alex broke off tree limbs, downed several power poles, and tore part of a roof off of a house. High winds from a thunderstorm, severely damaged a sheet metal barn and blew down trees 2 miles south-southeast of Prague. Winds from severe thunderstorms blew down numerous trees along a path from 2 miles southeast of Prague to 4 miles east of Prague. Strong winds downed trees 5 miles south of Randlett. Widespread flash flooding was reported with these storms. High water in Waurika flooded three homes. One home which was not occupied had about a foot of water flowing through it. A few other homes in Waurika were sandbagged to help keep flood waters out. In Cotton County, water was flowing over Highway 36 south of Route 70, over a road 1 to 2 miles south of Randlett, and over a roadway 3 miles south and 0.5 mile west of Devol during the evening hours of the 29th. Near Comanche travel was reduced to one lane due to water covering Highway 81. In Jefferson County, high water covered Highway 81 about 2 miles north of Addington. Lightning strikes also caused damage during these storms. A home in Shattuck was struck by lightning. The fire resulting from the lightning damaged electronic equipment and started a grass fire in the backyard of the home. A fire from a lightning strike destroyed a trailer 2 miles west of Comanche. A lightning strike to a home 6 miles north of Waurika resulted in minor damage. In Quinton, lightning struck and killed several cattle.
May 2025	Hail	Panama	-	no account filed
July 2020	Hail	Panama	-	no account filed
December 2010	Hail	Panama	-	no account filed
April 2009	Hail	Panama	-	no account filed
March 2008	Hail	Panama	-	no account filed
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	no account filed
March 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Panama	-	no account filed
March 2006	Hail	Panama	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Le Flore County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Coal Creek	1.6 miles	14
Bedwell	2.4 miles	14
Shady Point	2.7 miles	14
Tahona	3.7 miles	14
Sunset Corner	4.9 miles	14
Ward	5.6 miles	14
Witteville	5.7 miles	16
Spiro	5.8 miles	14

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Panama	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2204538	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1096393. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.