Lapeer County, Michigan: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Lapeer County, Michigan has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 66.4 out of 100, higher than about 66% of US counties, with strong winds, tornadoes and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $28 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 9 federal disaster declarations that included Lapeer County since 1975, 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 21 tornadoes touching Lapeer County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Michigan All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 88,578 Buildings worth $22 billion Area 670 sq mi Risk rank in Michigan 27 of 83 FIPS 26087
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong wind | Relatively High | 91.3 | $2.4 million | about 4.8 a year | 181 |
| Tornado | Relatively Moderate | 84.5 | $5.6 million | about once every 4.1 years | 13 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Moderate | 83.7 | $5.0 million | about 3 a year | 57 |
| Ice storm | Relatively Moderate | 72.4 | $273,823 | about 1.3 a year | 90 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 68.4 | $13 million | about once every 1.8 years | 16 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 63.0 | $460,795 | about 2.3 a year | 88 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 60.5 | $3,039 | about once every 6.7 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 52.8 | $281,732 | about 32 a year | 84,762 strikes |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 47.5 | $361,815 | about 2.5 a year | 39 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 35.6 | $125,883 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 29.7 | $14,976 | about once every 61 years | 2 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 25.4 | $25,992 | about 11 a year | 217 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 16.9 | $6,521 | 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, Snowstorm 2, Severe Storm 2, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Snowstorm, Severe Storm, Flood |
| 1980s | 2 | Flood ×2 |
| 1990s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 3 | Hurricane, Other, Snowstorm |
The last 9
Widest declarations that included Lapeer 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 21
| Tornadoes touching the county | 21 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F5 ×1 |
| Peak month | June (7) |
| 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 Mar 2012, EF2, 4.6 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 116 / 871 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 3 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 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 Lapeer County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lapeer County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 66.4 | Strong wind |
| Genesee County | 40 km | Relatively Moderate | 92.2 | Tornado |
| Tuscola County | 44 km | Relatively Low | 73.1 | Strong wind |
| St. Clair County | 47 km | Relatively Moderate | 82.0 | Cold wave |
| Sanilac County | 49 km | Relatively Low | 70.3 | Cold wave |
| Oakland County | 50 km | Relatively High | 97.5 | Tornado |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Michigan, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 28.3 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 75.8 |
| Community risk factor | 0.96 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $28 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 Lapeer County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Michigan · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning now?
- 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 Lapeer County
What natural disasters is Lapeer County, Michigan most at risk from?
Lapeer County, Michigan has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 66.4 out of 100, higher than about 66% of US counties, with strong winds, tornadoes and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $28 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Lapeer County had?
OpenFEMA lists 9 federal disaster declarations that included Lapeer County since 1975, 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 Lapeer County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 21 tornadoes touching Lapeer 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.