Hillsdale County, Michigan: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Hillsdale County, Michigan has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 50.0 out of 100, higher than about 50% of US counties, with tornadoes, lightning and hail scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $14 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 7 federal disaster declarations that included Hillsdale County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3225-MI (Hurricane Katrina Evacuation, declared 7 September 2005). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 25 tornadoes touching Hillsdale County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 45,730 Buildings worth $12 billion Area 613 sq mi Risk rank in Michigan 43 of 83 FIPS 26059
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 Moderate | 78.5 | $3.1 million | about once every 3.3 years | 23 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 75.1 | $502,305 | about 37 a year | 87,761 strikes |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 73.1 | $538,122 | about 3.2 a year | 120 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 64.0 | $1.4 million | about 3.1 a year | 59 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 62.7 | $655,830 | about 5.4 a year | 205 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 61.2 | $118,100 | about 1.7 a year | 113 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 60.3 | $2,308 | about once every 7.2 years | — |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 56.5 | $6.7 million | about once every 5.6 years | 5 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 50.5 | $236,006 | about once every 870 years | — |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 38.9 | $181,406 | about 3.5 a year | 55 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 38.6 | $36,131 | about 11 a year | 216 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 35.4 | $36,020 | about once every 2.9 years | 28 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 33.2 | $15,234 | about once every 96 years | 4 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 18.0 | $5,369 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| 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 7
Most common: Snowstorm 3, Tornado 2, Hurricane 1, Other 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Tornado |
| 1970s | 3 | Snowstorm ×2, Tornado |
| 2000s | 3 | Hurricane, Other, Snowstorm |
The last 7
Widest declarations that included Hillsdale 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 25
| Tornadoes touching the county | 25 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×1 |
| Peak month | April (6) |
| Deadliest | 11 Apr 1965, F4, 80.5 mi path, 21 killed, 293 injured |
| Longest path | 11 Apr 1965, F4, 80.5 mi path, 21 killed, 293 injured |
| Most recent | 24 Sep 2024, EF0, 0.1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 23 / 338 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 9 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
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 Hillsdale County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsdale County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 50.0 | Tornado |
| Williams County, OH | 36 km | Relatively Low | 44.4 | Strong wind |
| Branch County | 39 km | Relatively Low | 51.8 | Hail |
| Jackson County | 42 km | Relatively Low | 76.5 | Tornado |
| Steuben County, IN | 43 km | Very Low | 27.2 | Hail |
| Lenawee County | 44 km | Relatively Low | 69.9 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Michigan, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 64.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 68.9 |
| Community risk factor | 1.25 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $14 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 Hillsdale 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?
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Michigan
- Hail: Weather alerts for Michigan
- 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 Hillsdale County
What natural disasters is Hillsdale County, Michigan most at risk from?
Hillsdale County, Michigan has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 50.0 out of 100, higher than about 50% of US counties, with tornadoes, lightning and hail scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $14 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Hillsdale County had?
OpenFEMA lists 7 federal disaster declarations that included Hillsdale County since 1965, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is EM-3225-MI (Hurricane Katrina Evacuation, declared 7 September 2005). Another 3 Michigan declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Hillsdale County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 25 tornadoes touching Hillsdale County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 11 Apr 1965, F4, 80.5 mi path, 21 killed, 293 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.