Alcona County, Michigan: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Alcona County, Michigan has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 17.7 out of 100, higher than about 17% of US counties, with lightning, landslides and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $4.7 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 7 federal disaster declarations that included Alcona County since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4925-MI (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, declared 30 June 2026). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 12 tornadoes touching Alcona County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Michigan All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 10,159 Buildings worth $4.5 billion Area 1,809 sq mi Risk rank in Michigan 73 of 83 FIPS 26001
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 57.5 | $215,506 | about 25 a year | 27,102 strikes |
| Landslide | Very Low | 53.7 | $1,223 | about once every 5.5 years | — |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 45.0 | $553,267 | about 2.1 a year | 39 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 41.3 | $3.6 million | about once every 7.0 years | 4 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 41.3 | $20,100 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Coastal flooding | Very Low | 30.0 | $3,293 | about once every 77 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 29.5 | $9,500 | about once every 76 years | 6 |
| Hail | Very Low | 26.0 | $68,249 | about once every 1.2 years | 34 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 20.7 | $177,416 | about once every 5.8 years | 11 |
| Strong wind | Very Low | 14.7 | $84,293 | about once every 1.3 years | 12 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 11.5 | $15,954 | about once every 1.2 years | 14 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 11.3 | $4,226 | about once every 13 years | 2 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 7.3 | $4,981 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 4.8 | $2,470 | about 14 a year | 260 |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 7
Most common: Flood 2, Snowstorm 2, Severe Ice Storm 1, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2 | Snowstorm, Drought |
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 1 | Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 2020s | 2 | Flood, Severe Ice Storm |
The last 7
Widest declarations that included Alcona County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3225-MI): 83 Michigan counties designated.
- Blizzards & Snowstorms (1978, EM-3057-MI): 83 Michigan counties designated.
- Drought (1977, EM-3035-MI): 44 Michigan counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Michigan also had 3 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 12
| Tornadoes touching the county | 12 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×3 |
| Peak month | July (4) |
| Deadliest | 3 Jul 1999, F1, 12 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured |
| Longest path | 27 Mar 1991, F3, 35 mi path |
| Most recent | 22 Jun 2008, EF1, 0.8 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 2 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Alcona County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcona County (this page) | — | Very Low | 17.7 | Lightning |
| Iosco County | 37 km | Very Low | 37.8 | Winter weather |
| Alpena County | 39 km | Very Low | 28.3 | Cold wave |
| Oscoda County | 42 km | Very Low | 15.1 | Lightning |
| Montmorency County | 57 km | Very Low | 15.9 | Landslide |
| Ogemaw County | 57 km | Very Low | 37.0 | Hail |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Michigan, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 84.9 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 53.8 |
| Community risk factor | 1.48 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $4.7 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Alcona County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Michigan · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Michigan
- Landslide: Landslides recorded
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Alcona County
What natural disasters is Alcona County, Michigan most at risk from?
Alcona County, Michigan has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 17.7 out of 100, higher than about 17% of US counties, with lightning, landslides and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $4.7 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Alcona County had?
OpenFEMA lists 7 federal disaster declarations that included Alcona County since 1977, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4925-MI (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, declared 30 June 2026). Another 3 Michigan declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Alcona County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 12 tornadoes touching Alcona County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 3 Jul 1999, F1, 12 mi path, 0 killed, 2 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.