Champaign County, Ohio: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Champaign County, Ohio has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 26.7 out of 100, higher than about 26% of US counties, with ice storms, earthquakes and hail scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $11 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 9 federal disaster declarations that included Champaign County since 1978, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4077-OH (Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds, declared 20 August 2012). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 9 tornadoes touching Champaign County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 38,673 Buildings worth $8.6 billion Area 434 sq mi Risk rank in Ohio 75 of 88 FIPS 39021
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice storm | Relatively Low | 58.1 | $144,975 | about once every 1.3 years | 54 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 56.2 | $453,671 | about once every 543 years | — |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 55.6 | $385,419 | about 3.4 a year | 127 |
| Winter weather | Relatively Low | 51.2 | $78,492 | about 12 a year | 223 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 51.0 | $1,668 | about once every 10 years | — |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 50.3 | $176,054 | about once every 1.8 years | 14 |
| Tornado | Relatively Low | 46.4 | $1.3 million | about once every 3.6 years | 8 |
| Inland flooding | Relatively Low | 43.8 | $6.5 million | about 1.4 a year | 39 |
| Lightning | Relatively Low | 41.9 | $204,693 | about 45 a year | 64,399 strikes |
| Cold wave | Relatively Low | 38.6 | $740,623 | about 4.7 a year | 90 |
| Strong wind | Relatively Low | 32.8 | $386,273 | about 2.5 a year | 94 |
| Hurricane | Very Low | 27.6 | $13,875 | about once every 124 years | 2 |
| Heat wave | Very Low | 26.4 | $127,179 | about 4 a year | 64 |
| Wildfire | Very Low | 3.4 | $1,394 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| 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: Severe Storm 6, Snowstorm 2, Hurricane 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 1 | Snowstorm |
| 1990s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 5 | Severe Storm ×3, Hurricane, Snowstorm |
| 2010s | 2 | Severe Storm ×2 |
The last 9
Widest declarations that included Champaign County
- Severe Storms (2012, EM-3346-OH): 88 Ohio counties designated.
- Hurricane Katrina Evacuation (2005, EM-3250-OH): 88 Ohio counties designated.
- Severe Storms and Flooding (2004, DR-1556-OH): 88 Ohio counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Tropical Depression Ike (2008), Hurricane Katrina (2005).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Ohio also had 3 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 9
| Tornadoes touching the county | 9 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F3 ×1 |
| Peak month | June (3) |
| Deadliest | 10 May 1973, F3, 89.6 mi path, 0 killed, 8 injured |
| Longest path | 10 May 1973, F3, 89.6 mi path, 0 killed, 8 injured |
| Most recent | 17 Apr 2024, EF0, 3 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 12 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
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 Champaign County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champaign County (this page) | — | Very Low | 26.7 | Ice storm |
| Clark County | 25 km | Relatively Low | 77.1 | Ice storm |
| Logan County | 28 km | Relatively Low | 53.2 | Hail |
| Union County | 38 km | Very Low | 32.7 | Ice storm |
| Miami County | 40 km | Relatively Low | 61.4 | Earthquake |
| Madison County | 41 km | Very Low | 24.9 | Ice storm |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Ohio, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very Low 19.8 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very High 82.4 |
| Community risk factor | 0.88 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $11 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 Champaign County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Ohio · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Ice storm: Power outages now · Carbon monoxide in winter
- Earthquake: Earthquakes today · Earthquake safety guide
- Hail: Weather alerts for Ohio
- 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 Champaign County
What natural disasters is Champaign County, Ohio most at risk from?
Champaign County, Ohio has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 26.7 out of 100, higher than about 26% of US counties, with ice storms, earthquakes and hail scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $11 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Champaign County had?
OpenFEMA lists 9 federal disaster declarations that included Champaign County since 1978, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4077-OH (Severe Storms and Straight-Line Winds, declared 20 August 2012). Another 3 Ohio declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Champaign County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 9 tornadoes touching Champaign County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 10 May 1973, F3, 89.6 mi path, 0 killed, 8 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.