Wayne County, Michigan: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Wayne County, Michigan has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 99.0 out of 100, higher than about 99% of US counties, with cold waves, strong winds and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $402 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 15 federal disaster declarations that included Wayne 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 38 tornadoes touching Wayne County from 1950 to 2025.
Live weather alerts for Michigan All official warnings Latest FEMA declarations
Population 1,792,549 Buildings worth $356 billion Area 680 sq mi Risk rank in Michigan 1 of 83 FIPS 26163
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold wave | Very High | 99.7 | $60 million | about 2.7 a year | 51 |
| Strong wind | Very High | 99.7 | $13 million | about 5.1 a year | 184 |
| Tornado | Very High | 99.5 | $44 million | about once every 3.6 years | 27 |
| Inland flooding | Very High | 99.4 | $237 million | about 3.1 a year | 88 |
| Heat wave | Relatively High | 99.3 | $32 million | about 4.3 a year | 68 |
| Ice storm | Very High | 99.0 | $2.8 million | about 1.9 a year | 120 |
| Lightning | Very High | 98.3 | $2.5 million | about 37 a year | 1,231,172 strikes |
| Earthquake | Relatively Moderate | 94.7 | $9.9 million | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Winter weather | Relatively High | 94.7 | $490,547 | about 1 a year | 194 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 58.2 | $1,821 | about once every 9.5 years | — |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 57.8 | $119,889 | about once every 92 years | 4 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 54.4 | $46,163 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Coastal flooding | Relatively Low | 49.6 | $90,305 | about once every 68 years | — |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 46.5 | $173,530 | about 2.9 a year | 111 |
| 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 15
Most common: Severe Storm 6, Flood 5, Snowstorm 2, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4 | Flood ×2, Snowstorm, Severe Storm |
| 1980s | 1 | Flood |
| 1990s | 3 | Severe Storm ×2, Snowstorm |
| 2000s | 4 | Severe Storm ×2, Hurricane, Other |
| 2010s | 1 | Flood |
| 2020s | 2 | Flood, Severe Storm |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Wayne County
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3225-MI): 83 Michigan counties designated.
- Blizzards & Snowstorms (1978, EM-3057-MI): 83 Michigan counties designated.
- Mi - Severe Weather 1/2 /99 (1999, EM-3137-MI): 31 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 38
| Tornadoes touching the county | 38 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F4 ×1 |
| Peak month | August (9) |
| Deadliest | 20 Nov 1957, F3, 1.5 mi path, 1 killed, 12 injured |
| Longest path | 4 Jul 1969, F3, 13.9 mi path, 0 killed, 54 injured |
| Most recent | 5 Jun 2024, EF1, 5.8 mi path, 1 killed, 2 injured |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 2 / 192 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 15 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 6 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
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 Wayne County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne County (this page) | — | Relatively High | 99.0 | Cold wave |
| Oakland County | 43 km | Relatively High | 97.5 | Tornado |
| Monroe County | 45 km | Relatively Moderate | 82.5 | Strong wind |
| Washtenaw County | 46 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.3 | Strong wind |
| Macomb County | 54 km | Relatively High | 96.7 | Tornado |
| Livingston County | 62 km | Relatively Low | 73.5 | Strong wind |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Michigan, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Relatively High 76.1 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Relatively Moderate 58.7 |
| Community risk factor | 1.37 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $402 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 Wayne County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Michigan · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Strong wind: Power outages now
- Tornado: Is there a tornado warning 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 Wayne County
What natural disasters is Wayne County, Michigan most at risk from?
Wayne County, Michigan has a Relatively High natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 99.0 out of 100, higher than about 99% of US counties, with cold waves, strong winds and tornadoes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $402 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Wayne County had?
OpenFEMA lists 15 federal disaster declarations that included Wayne 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 Wayne County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 38 tornadoes touching Wayne County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 20 Nov 1957, F3, 1.5 mi path, 1 killed, 12 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.