Roscommon County, Michigan: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Roscommon County, Michigan has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 56.7 out of 100, higher than about 56% of US counties, with winter storms, lightning and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $13 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 5 federal disaster declarations that included Roscommon County since 1976, 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 9 tornadoes touching Roscommon County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Michigan All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 23,456 Buildings worth $9.1 billion Area 586 sq mi Risk rank in Michigan 37 of 83 FIPS 26143
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 | 87.3 | $230,618 | about 18 a year | 336 |
| Lightning | Relatively Moderate | 72.0 | $375,199 | about 27 a year | 55,277 strikes |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 71.9 | $9.9 million | about once every 9.3 years | 3 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 69.7 | $120,172 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 64.7 | $312,869 | about 1.6 a year | 59 |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 63.1 | $1.1 million | about 2.1 a year | 39 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Moderate | 55.6 | $451,884 | about 1.7 a year | 64 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 47.1 | $781,617 | about once every 7.7 years | 7 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 38.3 | $410 | about once every 9.9 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 25.9 | $7,020 | about once every 100 years | 0 |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 23.6 | $15,255 | about once every 5.2 years | 13 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 18.1 | $35,974 | about once every 1.1 years | 16 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 17.7 | $16,160 | 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 5
Most common: Flood 1, Hurricane 1, Snowstorm 1, Drought 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 3 | Snowstorm, Drought, Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 2020s | 1 | Flood |
The last 5
Widest declarations that included Roscommon 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 9
| Tornadoes touching the county | 9 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×2 |
| Peak month | June (6) |
| Deadliest | — |
| Longest path | 5 Aug 1968, F1, 5.1 mi path |
| Most recent | 9 Jun 2021, EF0, 1.1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 0 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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 Roscommon County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roscommon County (this page) | — | Relatively Low | 56.7 | Winter weather |
| Missaukee County | 38 km | Very Low | 11.1 | Winter weather |
| Ogemaw County | 39 km | Very Low | 37.0 | Hail |
| Crawford County | 39 km | Very Low | 18.0 | Winter weather |
| Gladwin County | 42 km | Very Low | 40.3 | Winter weather |
| Clare County | 43 km | Relatively Low | 47.5 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Michigan, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 87.0 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively High 69.1 |
| Community risk factor | 1.49 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $13 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 Roscommon 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
- Lightning: Weather alerts for Michigan
- Inland flooding: Flood safety: why shallow water kills · Floods recorded
- 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 Roscommon County
What natural disasters is Roscommon County, Michigan most at risk from?
Roscommon County, Michigan has a Relatively Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 56.7 out of 100, higher than about 56% of US counties, with winter storms, lightning and inland (river and flash) flooding scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $13 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Roscommon County had?
OpenFEMA lists 5 federal disaster declarations that included Roscommon County since 1976, 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 Roscommon County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 9 tornadoes touching Roscommon County from 1950 to 2025.
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.