Genesee County, Michigan: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Genesee County, Michigan has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 92.2 out of 100, higher than about 92% of US counties, with tornadoes, cold waves and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $113 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 12 federal disaster declarations that included Genesee County since 1975, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3375-MI (Contaminated Water, declared 16 January 2016). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 51 tornadoes touching Genesee County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 406,019 Buildings worth $82 billion Area 656 sq mi Risk rank in Michigan 4 of 83 FIPS 26049
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Relatively High | 98.5 | $29 million | about once every 3.5 years | 39 |
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 98.3 | $21 million | about 2.8 a year | 54 |
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 97.9 | $5.1 million | about 5.6 a year | 212 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 92.6 | $51 million | about once every 1.1 years | 26 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 91.1 | $1.9 million | about 2.8 a year | 106 |
| Ice storm | Relatively High | 89.6 | $862,308 | about 1.3 a year | 84 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 89.5 | $1.1 million | about 33 a year | 270,628 strikes |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 85.6 | $2.1 million | about 2.6 a year | 42 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 70.8 | $814,893 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 59.0 | $84,985 | about 11 a year | 217 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 52.6 | $1,554 | about once every 8.7 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 45.3 | $46,215 | about once every 103 years | 4 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 25.9 | $10,926 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| 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 12
Most common: Flood 4, Severe Storm 3, Snowstorm 2, Toxic Substances 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4 | Flood ×2, Snowstorm, Severe Storm |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1990s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 4 | Hurricane, Severe Storm, Other, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 1 | Toxic Substances |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Genesee County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3225-MI): 83 Michigan counties designated.
- Blizzards & Snowstorms (1978, EM-3057-MI): 83 Michigan counties designated.
- Snow (2001, EM-3160-MI): 39 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 51
| Tornadoes touching the county | 51 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F5 ×1 |
| Peak month | May (11) |
| Deadliest | 8 Jun 1953, F5, 18.9 mi path, 116 killed, 844 injured |
| Longest path | 2 Jun 1971, F1, 57.9 mi path, 0 killed, 3 injured |
| Most recent | 15 May 2025, EF0, 1.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 120 / 977 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 17 | 14 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 5 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
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 Genesee County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genesee County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 92.2 | Tornado |
| Shiawassee County | 37 km | Relatively Low | 62.2 | Strong wind |
| Lapeer County | 40 km | Relatively Low | 66.4 | Strong wind |
| Saginaw County | 45 km | Relatively Moderate | 88.5 | Winter weather |
| Oakland County | 48 km | Relatively High | 97.5 | Tornado |
| Livingston County | 49 km | Relatively Low | 73.5 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Michigan, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Moderate 43.7 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 70.6 |
| Community risk factor | 1.07 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $113 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 Genesee County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Michigan · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Strong wind: 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 Genesee County
What natural disasters is Genesee County, Michigan most at risk from?
Genesee County, Michigan has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 92.2 out of 100, higher than about 92% of US counties, with tornadoes, cold waves and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $113 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Genesee County had?
OpenFEMA lists 12 federal disaster declarations that included Genesee County since 1975, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3375-MI (Contaminated Water, declared 16 January 2016). Another 3 Michigan declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Genesee County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 51 tornadoes touching Genesee County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 8 Jun 1953, F5, 18.9 mi path, 116 killed, 844 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.