Macomb County, Michigan: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Macomb County, Michigan has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 96.7 out of 100, higher than about 96% of US counties, with tornadoes, cold waves and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $268 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 16 federal disaster declarations that included Macomb County since 1972, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4757-MI (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, declared 8 February 2024). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 23 tornadoes touching Macomb County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 880,347 Buildings worth $182 billion Area 577 sq mi Risk rank in Michigan 3 of 83 FIPS 26099
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado | Very High | 99.3 | $59 million | about once every 4.8 years | 15 |
| Cold wave | Very High | 99.0 | $41 million | about 2.6 a year | 50 |
| Strong wind | Very High | 98.6 | $7.3 million | about 4.9 a year | 163 |
| Ice storm | Very High | 98.2 | $3.4 million | about 2 a year | 117 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively High | 97.5 | $146 million | about 1.9 a year | 54 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Moderate | 94.5 | $5.9 million | about 4.2 a year | 66 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 90.6 | $2.0 million | about 2.4 a year | 94 |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 88.6 | $1.2 million | about 34 a year | 463,502 strikes |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 88.4 | $403,141 | about 12 a year | 218 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 83.6 | $2.6 million | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 49.9 | $80,537 | about once every 65 years | 4 |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Low | 46.6 | $65,932 | about once every 83 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 41.7 | $32,292 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Landslide | Very Low | 36.4 | $557 | about once every 14 years | — |
| Drought | No Rating | 0.0 | — | — | 0 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Insufficient Data | — | — | — | — |
| 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 16
Most common: Flood 6, Severe Storm 5, Snowstorm 3, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 5 | Flood ×3, Snowstorm, Severe Storm |
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 3 | Severe Storm ×2, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 4 | Hurricane, Severe Storm, Other, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 1 | Flood |
| 2020s | 2 | Flood, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Macomb 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 23
| Tornadoes touching the county | 23 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×1 |
| Peak month | June (6) |
| Deadliest | 8 May 1964, F4, 3.3 mi path, 11 killed, 224 injured |
| Longest path | 2 May 1983, F3, 23 mi path, 0 killed, 3 injured |
| Most recent | 18 Jun 2025, EF0, 2.4 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 12 / 243 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 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 Macomb County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macomb County (this page) | — | Relatively High | 96.7 | Tornado |
| St. Clair County | 34 km | Relatively Moderate | 82.0 | Cold wave |
| Oakland County | 37 km | Relatively High | 97.5 | Tornado |
| Lapeer County | 50 km | Relatively Low | 66.4 | Strong wind |
| Wayne County | 54 km | Relatively High | 99.0 | Cold wave |
| Genesee County | 73 km | Relatively Moderate | 92.2 | Tornado |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Michigan, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively Low 27.1 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 80.7 |
| Community risk factor | 0.94 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $268 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 Macomb 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 Macomb County
What natural disasters is Macomb County, Michigan most at risk from?
Macomb County, Michigan has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 96.7 out of 100, higher than about 96% of US counties, with tornadoes, cold waves and strong winds scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $268 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Macomb County had?
OpenFEMA lists 16 federal disaster declarations that included Macomb County since 1972, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4757-MI (Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, declared 8 February 2024). Another 3 Michigan declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Macomb County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 23 tornadoes touching Macomb County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 8 May 1964, F4, 3.3 mi path, 11 killed, 224 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.