Isabella County, Michigan: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Isabella County, Michigan has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 66.1 out of 100, higher than about 66% of US counties, with winter storms, strong winds and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $22 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 9 federal disaster declarations that included Isabella County since 1975, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4326-MI (Severe Storms and Flooding, declared 2 August 2017). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 13 tornadoes touching Isabella County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 64,345 Buildings worth $18 billion Area 584 sq mi Risk rank in Michigan 28 of 83 FIPS 26073
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 95.1 | $599,493 | about 17 a year | 318 |
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 90.0 | $1.8 million | about 2.8 a year | 106 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 80.2 | $3.5 million | about once every 4.9 years | 9 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 79.6 | $754,533 | about 1.8 a year | 70 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 77.5 | $2.7 million | about 2.2 a year | 42 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 71.5 | $12 million | about once every 1.8 years | 16 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 62.7 | $132,445 | about once every 1.2 years | 56 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 54.9 | $245,336 | about 3 a year | 71,653 strikes |
| Landslide | Very Low | 44.1 | $782 | about once every 11 years | — |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 38.0 | $182,686 | about 1.8 a year | 32 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 37.0 | $110,163 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 33.0 | $15,870 | about once every 79 years | 4 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 18.4 | $5,837 | 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 9
Most common: Flood 3, Severe Storm 2, Snowstorm 2, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4 | Snowstorm, Drought, Severe Storm, Flood |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 2000s | 2 | Hurricane, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 1 | Severe Storm |
The last 9
Widest declarations that included Isabella 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 13
| Tornadoes touching the county | 13 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×2 |
| Peak month | May (3) |
| Deadliest | 3 Apr 1988, F1, 1 mi path, 0 killed, 6 injured |
| Longest path | 6 Oct 1998, F0, 20 mi path |
| Most recent | 27 Aug 2004, F0, 0.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 7 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 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 Isabella County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isabella County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 66.1 | Winter weather |
| Midland County | 37 km | Relatively Low | 71.9 | Strong wind |
| Mecosta County | 38 km | Relatively Low | 69.8 | Strong wind |
| Clare County | 39 km | Relatively Low | 47.5 | Strong wind |
| Gratiot County | 43 km | Relatively Low | 54.1 | Strong wind |
| Montcalm County | 44 km | Relatively Low | 56.9 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Michigan, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Moderate 57.1 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 66.8 |
| Community risk factor | 1.18 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $22 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 Isabella County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Michigan · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Winter weather: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning 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 Isabella County
What natural disasters is Isabella County, Michigan most at risk from?
Isabella County, Michigan has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 66.1 out of 100, higher than about 66% of US counties, with winter storms, strong winds and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $22 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Isabella County had?
OpenFEMA lists 9 federal disaster declarations that included Isabella County since 1975, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4326-MI (Severe Storms and Flooding, declared 2 August 2017). Another 3 Michigan declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Isabella County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 13 tornadoes touching Isabella County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 3 Apr 1988, F1, 1 mi path, 0 killed, 6 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.