Oakland County, Michigan: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Oakland County, Michigan has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 97.5 out of 100, higher than about 97% of US counties, with tornadoes, ice storms and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $359 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 13 federal disaster declarations that included Oakland County since 1975, 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 36 tornadoes touching Oakland County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Michigan All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 1,274,114 Buildings worth $319 billion Area 916 sq mi Risk rank in Michigan 2 of 83 FIPS 26125
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 | 99.7 | $102 million | about once every 2.6 years | 32 |
| Ice storm | Very High | 99.4 | $5.5 million | about 1.8 a year | 122 |
| Cold wave | Very High | 99.3 | $55 million | about 2.6 a year | 50 |
| Strong wind | Very High | 98.9 | $9.0 million | about 5.5 a year | 208 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively High | 97.5 | $165 million | about 1.1 a year | 30 |
| Heat wave | Relatively High | 97.4 | $13 million | about 4.2 a year | 66 |
| Hail | Relatively Moderate | 93.8 | $3.0 million | about 2.8 a year | 106 |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 91.5 | $556,772 | about 12 a year | 225 |
| Earthquake | Relatively Low | 86.7 | $4.0 million | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Lightning | Relatively High | 83.2 | $1.0 million | about 35 a year | 659,705 strikes |
| Landslide | Relatively Low | 78.3 | $16,284 | about once every 3.7 years | — |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 58.1 | $92,613 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 51.0 | $98,626 | about once every 91 years | 6 |
| 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 13
Most common: Severe Storm 5, Flood 3, Snowstorm 3, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Snowstorm, Severe Storm, Flood |
| 1990s | 2 | Snowstorm, Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 5 | Severe Storm ×2, Hurricane, Other, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 1 | Flood |
| 2020s | 2 | Flood, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Oakland 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 36
| Tornadoes touching the county | 36 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×2 |
| Peak month | July (8) |
| Deadliest | 20 Mar 1976, F4, 3.8 mi path, 1 killed, 55 injured |
| Longest path | 4 Jul 1957, F4, 29.9 mi path, 0 killed, 6 injured |
| Most recent | 10 Nov 2024, EF0, 1.2 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 3 / 100 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 9 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 6 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
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 Oakland County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland County (this page) | — | Relatively High | 97.5 | Tornado |
| Macomb County | 37 km | Relatively High | 96.7 | Tornado |
| Wayne County | 43 km | Relatively High | 99.0 | Cold wave |
| Livingston County | 43 km | Relatively Low | 73.5 | Strong wind |
| Genesee County | 48 km | Relatively Moderate | 92.2 | Tornado |
| Lapeer County | 50 km | Relatively Low | 66.4 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Michigan, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 16.6 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 90.4 |
| Community risk factor | 0.85 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $359 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 Oakland 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?
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- 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 Oakland County
What natural disasters is Oakland County, Michigan most at risk from?
Oakland County, Michigan has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 97.5 out of 100, higher than about 97% of US counties, with tornadoes, ice storms and cold waves scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $359 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Oakland County had?
OpenFEMA lists 13 federal disaster declarations that included Oakland County since 1975, 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 Oakland County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 36 tornadoes touching Oakland County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 20 Mar 1976, F4, 3.8 mi path, 1 killed, 55 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.