Kalamazoo County, Michigan: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Kalamazoo County, Michigan has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 81.7 out of 100, higher than about 81% of US counties, with hail, tornadoes and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $55 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 10 federal disaster declarations that included Kalamazoo County since 1965, 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 27 tornadoes touching Kalamazoo County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 261,632 Buildings worth $55 billion Area 586 sq mi Risk rank in Michigan 13 of 83 FIPS 26077
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail | Relatively High | 97.4 | $5.8 million | about 2.2 a year | 85 |
| Tornado | Relatively High | 93.7 | $12 million | about once every 3.8 years | 16 |
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 89.9 | $2.5 million | about 4.3 a year | 164 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Moderate | 83.1 | $27 million | about once every 2.0 years | 14 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Moderate | 83.1 | $293,111 | about 25 a year | 470 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 79.7 | $4.4 million | about 1.8 a year | 34 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 73.7 | $325,902 | about 1.4 a year | 96 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 69.9 | $943,912 | about once every 980 years | — |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 67.3 | $5,475 | about once every 6.1 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 67.1 | $539,367 | about 36 a year | 184,201 strikes |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 57.1 | $619,422 | about 2.7 a year | 39 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 44.5 | $52,485 | about once every 58 years | 6 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 36.6 | $25,449 | 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 10
Most common: Snowstorm 4, Flood 2, Tornado 2, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Tornado |
| 1970s | 3 | Snowstorm ×2, Flood |
| 1980s | 1 | Tornado |
| 1990s | 1 | Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 3 | Hurricane, Other, Snowstorm |
| 2020s | 1 | Flood |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Kalamazoo 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 27
| Tornadoes touching the county | 27 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×1 |
| Peak month | May (8) |
| Deadliest | 13 May 1980, F3, 10.6 mi path, 5 killed, 79 injured |
| Longest path | 28 May 1955, F2, 64.6 mi path, 0 killed, 1 injured |
| Most recent | 15 May 2025, EF0, 10.1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 5 / 121 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 11 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 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 Kalamazoo County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalamazoo County (this page) | — | Relatively Moderate | 81.7 | Hail |
| St. Joseph County | 37 km | Relatively Low | 58.6 | Hail |
| Van Buren County | 40 km | Relatively Low | 60.5 | Hail |
| Barry County | 43 km | Relatively Low | 46.0 | Strong wind |
| Calhoun County | 43 km | Relatively Low | 74.5 | Strong wind |
| Allegan County | 48 km | Relatively Low | 68.5 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Michigan, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 18.5 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 91.5 |
| Community risk factor | 0.86 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $55 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 Kalamazoo County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Michigan · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Hail: Weather alerts for Michigan
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning 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 Kalamazoo County
What natural disasters is Kalamazoo County, Michigan most at risk from?
Kalamazoo County, Michigan has a Relatively Moderate natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 81.7 out of 100, higher than about 81% of US counties, with hail, tornadoes and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $55 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Kalamazoo County had?
OpenFEMA lists 10 federal disaster declarations that included Kalamazoo County since 1965, 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 Kalamazoo County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 27 tornadoes touching Kalamazoo County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 13 May 1980, F3, 10.6 mi path, 5 killed, 79 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.